Using photographs to understand young-adolescents' perceptions of their physical activity socialization

A great deal of our understanding of the influences of children's physical activity (PA) behavior is derived solely from self-reported measures of the social and physical environment. When attempting to develop effective community-based interventions, a critical process in program development is to elicit and understand the “stories” behind the behavior from the target audience, in this case how children see themselves as active agents in the socialization of their PA (e.g., who, what, and where). The purpose of this study was to qualitatively illustrate the contextual characteristics of children's PA by evaluating self-taken photographs and follow-up focus groups that discussed photos of their play spaces, people, and equipment used during PA. Sixty-six young-adolescents (4th-5th graders) took photographs (disposable camera) that were relevant to PA. A total 1,028 photos were taken, with 883 (86%) identified as usable. The photos were distilled into themes and used to guide interviews. Free play (64%) and fitness activities (14%) were the most common categories, and basketball (12%), running (7%), and bicycle riding (7%) the most common activities. Overwhelmingly, activity took place around the house (69%, front/back yard, driveway). Adults were depicted in 17% of the photos, mostly occurring in the context of organized sports. These results provide unique insight into young-adolescent's perceptions of PA, where PA occurs, and with whom. Moreover, these findings provide useful information for developing interventions to promote PA outside the school environment.