‘When I have time pressure, sport is the first thing that is cancelled’: A mixed-methods study on barriers to physical activity among university students in Germany

Hilger-Kolb J, Loerbroks A, Diehl K (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Journal of Sports Sciences Taylor & Francis

Pages Range: 2479-2488

DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2020.1792159

Abstract

The transition from school to university has been found to be associated with a decline in physical activity (PA). As regular engagement in PA plays an important role in preventing obesity and various chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, a deeper understanding on barriers that hinder university students from being physically active is necessary. We therefore conducted a mixed-methods study which built, first, on conducting a quantitative online survey across Germany (n = 689; 69.5% female) to examine barriers among university students. Afterwards, we explored these barriers in more detail by conducting 20 in-depth qualitative interviews (65.0% female). While we identified in our quantitative survey that especially time-related and motivational barriers hindered university students to engage in PA, our qualitative interviews indicate that connections between these barriers seem to exist. Moreover, the qualitative interviews enabled us to identify additional transition-related barriers (e.g., missing routines in everyday life, difficulties in finding a new sports club) that were not included in the quantitative questionnaire. Thus, such barriers should be incorporated into quantitative instruments to assess these barriers in larger samples of university students in the future. Moreover, our findings provide potential starting points for promoting PA in German university settings.

Authors with CRIS profile

Katharina Diehl

Involved external institutions

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg DE Germany (DE) Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Hilger-Kolb, J., Loerbroks, A., & Diehl, K. (2020). ‘When I have time pressure, sport is the first thing that is cancelled’: A mixed-methods study on barriers to physical activity among university students in Germany. Journal of Sports Sciences, 2479-2488. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1792159

MLA:

Hilger-Kolb, Jennifer, Adrian Loerbroks, and Katharina Diehl. "‘When I have time pressure, sport is the first thing that is cancelled’: A mixed-methods study on barriers to physical activity among university students in Germany." Journal of Sports Sciences (2020): 2479-2488.

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