1. Implications Results Methods Background Acknowledgements References Findings Active Indoor Play: Salient Beliefs Held by Adolescents from Rural Middle Schools Ellen E. Coe, MS 1, Elizabeth A. Mooradian, MS 2, Janet P. Wallace, PhD 2, Susan E. Middlestadt, PhD 1 1 Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, 2 Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University Contact: eecoe@indiana.edu  A salient-belief elicitation was used in the application of TPB to understand participants’ physical activity behaviors.  Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews about “playing indoors every day” were conducted with 86 students from three middle schools in rural Indiana from 2006 to 2008.  Interviews were conducted using computer-assisted interviewing software (Questionnaire Development System 2.4, Nova Research, Bethesda, MD).  Interviews were 20-30 minutes. Items were qualitative and quantitative; data were collected on eating and physical activity behaviors, school environment, and demographic data.  Interviews began with closed-ended items assessing self-reported behavior. Then, interviewers asked six open-ended questions :  Two questions referred to consequences 1.What are the advantages or good things that might happen if you play indoors every weekday for the next three months? 2.What are the disadvantages or bad things…  Two questions referred to social referents 1.Who, which people or group, might approve when you play indoors every weekday for the next three months? 2.Who, which people or group, might disapprove…  Two questions referred to circumstances 1.What might make it easier for you to play indoors every weekday for the next three months? 2.What might make it harder…  Content analysis of participants’ answers was conducted to identify categories of salient consequences, referents, and circumstances.  Frequency analysis (PASW version 18.0, Chicago, IL) was conducted to identify the salient or most frequently mentioned categories. This research was supported by Special State Funds to Indiana University. The authors thank the Eating Better and Moving More Research group who helped with data collection, coding, and analysis. Figure 2. Demographic Characteristics of Participants (N=86)  Participants had a mean age of 13±.1, range 12-15 years.  Recent data from the NAHNES study show the majority of adolescents are not meeting the Centers for Disease Control’s recommendation of 60 minutes of daily, moderate-vigorous physical activity 1.  Many children are unable to play outdoors due to safety concerns or lack of facilities 2. Therefore, indoor active play could be a viable substitute.  The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) 3 was used to identify determine factors that may influence active indoor play by adolescents. According to the TPB, the immediate determinant of behavior is intention which is then influenced by three weighted global constructs: attitude towards the act, perceived norm, and perceived behavioral control.  These global constructs are determined by top-of-the-mind (salient) beliefs about the perceived consequences, social referents, and circumstances of the behavior. Open-ended questions asked of representatives from the population of interest are used to identify the salient beliefs 4.  The purpose of this study was to identify beliefs underlying adolescents’ decision to play actively indoors that may be targeted in future physical activity interventions. Figure 1. Schematic for the Theory of Planned Behavior 1.Troiano RP, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, Masse LC, Tilert T, and McDowell M. Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. MSSE, 2008; 40: 181-188. 2.Veitch, J., Salmon, J., Ball, K. Individual, social, and physical environmental correlates of children’s active free-play: a cross sectional study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2010; 7(11): 11-21. 3.Ajzen, I. (1991). The Theory of Planned Behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50, 179-211. 4.Middlestadt SE, Bhattcharyya K, Rosenbaum J, et al. The use of theory-based semi- structured elicitation questionnaires: Formative research for CDC's prevention marketing initiative. Public Health Rep. 1996;3(1):18-27. Behavior  While participants felt that no one would disapprove (37%), parents were the most frequently mentioned approving group (70%).  Coding categories include: o Parents [parents, mom, dad] o Grandparents [grandparents, grandma, grandpa] o Family [family, uncle, aunt, cousin] o Siblings [brothers, sisters] o Teachers [teachers, coaches, gym teacher] o Health Professionals [doctor, nurse] o Friends [friends, church] Abstract ID #200076  Thirty-five percent of participants identified ‘will make me fit’ as the most salient advantage of playing indoors and the most salient disadvantage was the fear of breaking something (35%).  This study shows the utility TPB and application of a salient belief elicitation for identifying common behavioral beliefs of adolescents toward indoor active play.  These results can be utilized by practitioners to better formulate theory-based interventional programs to promote indoor play as an option for adolescents to increase physical activity.  Although many respondents mentioned that no one would disapprove of the activity, parents were mentioned as a frequent positive referent and also somewhat as a negative referent. Future interventions could be aimed at parents for encouraging indoor active play.  Because space and time were salient circumstances to increasing indoor play, practical solutions to help adolescents may include setting a routine play time, and having furniture pushed close to walls or a room designated for play. Further research to evaluate the home environment and how space can be used to facilitate active play is warranted.  Future research will utilize the qualitative findings from this study to develop a closed-ended instrument for a quantitative analysis of adolescents’ salient beliefs toward indoor active play, or as determinants to target in an intervention. This study contributes the specific language used by participants and underlying themes regarding beliefs about active indoor play. Note: For the following tables, participants could have provided multiple responses to each question, therefore, totals can sum to greater than 100%. The most salient circumstance that would make it easy to play indoors is to have a enough space (29%) which included not having things in the room that could break (11%). The top barrier to playing indoors was not having time (59%) which included having other activities like chores, homework, and after-school activities (41%).  The youth participants recognized that active indoor play is a viable option for helping them become more fit or healthier. However, having the time to play indoors is recognized by participants as a salient circumstance for the behavior to be feasible.  Participants felt that having space is a principal facilitator in order to play actively indoors. To participants, this meant having room, but also not having anything in the room that could break which is mentioned as the most salient disadvantage and additionally as a key circumstance.  The results also suggest that parents are the primary source of approval in the youths’ behavior to play indoors.