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Social-Demographic Correlates of Leisure-Time Physical Activities: a Secondary Data Analysis of a Large-Scale Survey in the U.S.

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A Correction to this article was published on 01 November 2018

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Abstract

Although the health benefits of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) are well documented, it has been known that social minority groups (e.g., women, racial/ethnic minority, people with disabilities) tend to engage in LTPA less than their majority counterparts. The literature on LTPA participation among socially diverse groups is limited in that (a) it has not examined a comprehensive list of socio-demographic variables simultaneously and (b) different types of LTPA (e.g., running vs. gym exercise vs. outdoor recreation) have been largely ignored. To address these gaps, we conducted a secondary analysis of data from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a large-scale, nationally representative survey of U.S. residents in all 50 states (N = 441,496). Our multiple regression predicting LTPA level by various socio-demographic variables (i.e., gender, age, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, disability, and sexuality) revealed that most of these variables were significantly associated with the outcome variable. In particular, disability and education’s effects appeared stronger than other variables’ influences. A separate, multinomial regression analysis predicting types of LTPA suggested that the same set of socio-demographic variables had differing patterns of effects on various types of LTPA. We discussed these findings in light of leisure constraints theory.

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Change history

  • 01 November 2018

    The original article has been corrected. Table 4 in the original article was incomplete and has been corrected.

Notes

  1. It should be noted, however, that R2 and pseudo R2 are not directly comparable with each other.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mr. Ethan Blumhorst for the coding assistance in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health and Recreation Professions, College of Education and Human Services, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Pulliam Hall 312, 475 Clocktower Drive, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    Shintaro Kono, Jun Kim & Justin T. McDaniel

  2. Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    Jingjing Gui

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  1. Shintaro Kono
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  2. Jun Kim
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Correspondence to Shintaro Kono.

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The original version of this article was revised: Table 4 in the original article was incomplete and has been corrected.

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Kono, S., Kim, J., Gui, J. et al. Social-Demographic Correlates of Leisure-Time Physical Activities: a Secondary Data Analysis of a Large-Scale Survey in the U.S.. Int J Sociol Leis 1, 261–282 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-018-0018-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-018-0018-6

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