DIFFERENCES IN PERCEIVED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY CONSTRAINTS BETWEEN TURKISH AND 4TH GENERATION TURKISH-GERMAN YOUNG ADULTS

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine perceived leisure-time physical activity constraints between Turkish young people living in Germany and Turkey. The current study was conducted with a causal-comparative model to examine the differences in perceived physical activity constraints between Turkish youth living in Turkey and fourth-generation Turkish-German youth who grew up and lived in Germany. 196 young adults from Germany and 201 young adults from Turkey participated in this study. A 2-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance test was used to assess the effects of country of residence and gender background on perceived physical activity constraints. Analysis revealed that there was a statistically significant interaction effect between the country of residence and gender on perceived physical activity constraints of Body Perception, Facilities, Income, Family, Skill Perception, Time, Willpower, and Society. There was also a statistically significant simple main effect of country of residence on all subscales except the skill perception, and the significant simple main effect of gender on facilities, income, time, willpower, and society subscales. Young adults living in Turkey and female precipitants reported higher physical activity constraints compared to participants living in Germany and males. These differences might be associated with the differences in economic development and physical activity norms in Turkish and German societies. These factors are vital for the number of environmental and organizational opportunities to increase leisure-time physical activity participation.