sustainability
Article
Is Self-Efficacy for Exercise Predictive of Leisure-Time Physical
Activity among Police Officers? A Pilot Study
Aspen E. Streetman * , Alex Becker, Emily L. Mailey and Katie M. Heinrich
Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
* Correspondence: aestreetman@ksu.edu; Tel.: +1-785-706-8315
Abstract: Leisure-time moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is an essential indicator of
overall health. Given the physical nature of police work, it is critical to understand variables that
predict officers’ engagement in MVPA. Self-efficacy for exercise (SEE) may be a variable directly
related to officer engagement in MVPA. This study aims to examine the relationship between SEE and
MVPA among police officers in two departments in a small urban midwestern city. A cross-sectional
survey was completed by 32 officers (male = 26, female = 6; aged 35.9 ± 7.1 years). Regression analysis
was performed to explore how anthropometric and demographic variables affected SEE’s ability to
predict MVPA. When combined with SEE, the model containing age had the highest predictive ability
of officers’ engagement in MVPA (p = 0.011; adjusted R2 = 0.2145). Adding other predictor variables
reduced the model’s ability to predict MVPA. SEE significantly predicted officers’ engagement in
MVPA when age was added as a predictor variable. SEE alone could not predict officers’ engagement
in MVPA, but adding other variables besides age to the model did not improve its predictive ability
in our study. Police organizations should explore wellness initiatives that increase officers’ SEE and
promote MVPA, particularly as officers age.
Keywords: tactical populations; wellness; aging; physical performance; psychology
Citation: Streetman, A.E.; Becker, A.;
Mailey, E.L.; Heinrich, K.M. Is
Self-Efficacy for Exercise Predictive of
Leisure-Time Physical Activity
among Police Officers? A Pilot Study.
Sustainability 2022, 14, 12536.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912536
Academic Editor: Giuseppe Battaglia
Received: 5 August 2022
Accepted: 29 September 2022
Published: 1 October 2022
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
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Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
1. Introduction
Law enforcement officers’ duties can vary dramatically throughout their work shifts [1,2].
An officer may transition from relatively sedentary behavior, such as sitting in a patrol
vehicle, to bouts of maximal physical effort rapidly and without warning, all while carrying
about 10 kg of occupational load [3]. Thus, adequate physical fitness promoted through
physical activity is paramount, even lifesaving, for officers.
Despite the importance of physical fitness and activity, overweight and obesity rates
among officers are increasing [4,5], along with increasing rates of related chronic diseases
(e.g., diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, etc.) [3,6]. Occupational exposures, including shift work and high stress, may only exacerbate weight gain [7,8]. Indeed, many officers’
physical activity levels decrease as their time on the job increases, suggesting that they lose
physical fitness because of their policing vocation [9–11].
It is critical to measure officers’ physical activity and examine health behaviors and
attitudes given their occupational demands. For example, examining officers’ leisuretime physical activity, specifically moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), may
provide insight into officers’ physical fitness. Engagement in MVPA is associated with
better performance of physical functions [12]. Among Finnish police officers, physical
activity engagement during young adulthood is predictive of fitness in middle age [13],
and higher self-reported physical activity is significantly correlated with aerobic capacity
among military personnel [14].
Self-efficacy may be an important indicator of physical activity engagement. Selfefficacy for exercise (SEE) describes the degree to which an individual can initiate and
maintain participation in exercise [15]. SEE is positively linked to long-term physical
Sustainability 2022, 14, 12536. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912536
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
Sustainability 2022, 14, 12536
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activity maintenance [15–17]. Higher SEE may be associated with better physical and
mental health outcomes [15,17]. Understanding the relationship between officers’ MVPA
and SEE may help decrease health risks, reduce injury risk, combat attrition, and improve
overall occupational performance.
Police organizations recognize the importance of physical fitness for police work. Most
officers must pass a physical fitness assessment before earning their badge [18]. Many local
and federal law enforcement agencies annually recertify police officers’ fitness for duty
abilities using physical fitness assessments [3,19]. These assessments can provide information about officers’ general health and well-being, injury risk, or ability to complete core
occupational tasks to ensure their employability [3]. Annual physical fitness assessments
often include a battery of tasks meant to simulate occupational demands, including running,
sprinting, jumping, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and completing an obstacle course [3,20].
While these assessments aim to measure officers’ aerobic and anaerobic capacity, strength,
endurance, power, agility, speed, and flexibility, they may not sufficiently measure officer
physical fitness [21]. Therefore, complementary measures of physical fitness are warranted.
A better estimate of officer fitness might be the amount of time the officer spends
engaged in leisure-time MVPA. Weekly physical activity guidelines recommend that adults
engage in at least 150 min of moderate aerobic or 75 min of vigorous aerobic activity, or a
combination of the two, and muscle-strengthening activity at least two times per week [22].
Moreover, a growing body of literature demonstrates the importance of leisure-time physical activity, especially MVPA, in various populations, including police officers [12,23–26].
MVPA is an essential indicator of overall health and is positively related to enhanced
quality of life [27]. MVPA has been shown to reduce lower back pain and improve body
composition [12,26,28]. Leisure-time MVPA is the most efficient form of physical activity to
improve physical fitness [27]. Given the occupational demands of police work, measuring
and enhancing officers’ MVPA may prove paramount to predicting officers’ physical fitness
for duty.
Police officers’ SEE is likely related to how much time they spend engaged in MVPA,
yet this has not been studied previously. SEE is highly modifiable and could be a target
for future interventions to promote police officer engagement in MVPA. Therefore, this
research aims to explore the relationship between SEE and MVPA in police officers. It
was hypothesized that officers with higher SEE would engage in more MVPA and that
officers’ demographic and anthropometric measures would be positively related to their
SEE and MVPA.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Experimental Approach to the Problem
In this pilot study, officers from two police departments in a small urban midwestern
city were recruited. A cross-sectional survey design was implemented to explore relationships between MVPA, SEE, and other participant characteristics. The online survey design
allowed for broader participant reach while minimizing participant burden.
2.2. Participants
The first department was a county’s midsized police department that employed
110 sworn officers. The second was a university’s small police department with 16 sworn
officers. We contacted the midsized department’s public information officer (PIO), asked
for assistance gathering survey responses, and emailed the university police department
officers directly. The email included information about the survey and a survey flyer with
a QR code and a bit-link to our cross-sectional survey. The midsized department’s PIO
agreed to share the survey with his departmental email distribution lists. The survey was
distributed online through Qualtrics (Qualtrics Labs Inc., Provo, UT, USA). Forty officers
(31.7%) accessed the survey, while 32 (26.2%; male = 26, female = 6) completed the survey
entirely. In addition to being sworn officers, inclusion criteria required the officer to be free
Sustainability 2022, 14, 12536
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from an injury that would prohibit leisure time physical activity participation. The study
received approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board, approval #IRB-10914.
2.3. Procedures
The online survey was designed to inform all participants of the study’s purpose
and confidentiality of their responses before obtaining informed consent, thus beginning
the study. After the informed consent, officers answered primary demographic, SEE, and
MVPA questions.
2.4. Measurements
2.4.1. Age, Height, and Body Mass
Officers self-reported their age, height, and body mass. Age and weight were reported
as whole numbers, and height was reported in feet and inches to the nearest quarter
inch. Imperial measurements were converted to metric values for statistical analysis.
Previous research has demonstrated the accuracy of self-reported height and weight in
police officers [1].
2.4.2. Body Mass Index (BMI)
During analysis, BMI was calculated after converting height and body mass measurements into the appropriate data units. BMI was derived using standard procedures
where BMI = body mass (kg)/[height (m)]2 . BMI values were also deemed accurate and
reliable, given the known accuracy of police officers’ self-reported height and weight [1].
Values were compared with normative data, and the officer’s BMI was categorized into
four categories: (1) underweight (<18.5 kg/m2 ), (2) normal weight (18.5 to <25 kg/m2 ),
(3) overweight (25.0 to <30 kg/m2 ), and (4) obese (≥30.0 kg/m2 ).
2.4.3. Godin-Shephard Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (GSLTPAQ)
The GSLTPAQ is a brief, widely used self-report measure that assesses the current
frequency of participants’ engagement in leisure-time physical activity in metabolic equivalents [29–31]. We asked participants: “During a typical 7-day period (a week), how many
times on average do you do the following kinds of exercise for more than 15 min during
your free time?” [32]. Exercise was classified as strenuous (heart beats rapidly), moderate
(not exhausting), and light (minimal effort). The GSLTPAQ was scored according to standard procedures documented in past research, and participants were categorized into three
categories: (1) insufficiently active (<14 units), (2) moderately active (14 to 23 units), and
(3) active (≥24 units) [32]. Since we were interested in MVPA, we added moderate and
strenuous leisure-time physical activity values for this study to assess MVPA in metabolic
equivalents.
2.4.4. Self-Efficacy for Exercise (SEE) Questionnaire
The SEE questionnaire is a valid and reliable (Cronbach’s alpha 0.91) nine-question
questionnaire assessing participants’ self-efficacy to overcome barriers to exercise [17]. The
questionnaire asked participants: “How confident are you right now that you could exercise
three times per week for 20 min if:” and then nine different scenarios (e.g., they were bored
with their exercise routine, were bothered by the weather, and felt tired or depressed) were
listed [17]. Participants rated their confidence for each scenario on a scale of 0 to 10. The
questionnaire was scored according to standard procedures. Scores could range from 0 to
90, with higher scores indicating higher SEE.
3. Results
Participant descriptive statistics are shown in Table 1. The majority (81.3%) of participants were male, accurately representing the policing occupation. On average, male
officers were classified as obese by BMI, while female officers were classified as overweight.
All officers were classified as active by MVPA units.
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Table 1. Participant demographic and anthropometric data.
Characteristic
Gender
n
Mean ± SD
Age (years)
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
26
6
26
6
26
6
26
6
26
6
36.4 ± 7.2
33.8 ± 6.7
170.8 ± 13.3
157.7 ± 4.7
93.8 ± 17.6
65.4 ± 11.9
32.5 ± 7.1
26.4 ± 5.4
47.1 ± 33.0
39.2 ± 35.5
Height (cm)
Weight (kg)
Calculated BMI (kg/m2 )
Calculated MVPA (units)
𝑀𝑉𝑃𝐴 = 𝑆𝐸𝐸
are shown
regression
𝐵𝑀𝐼Model
× 𝛽 summaries
𝑀𝑉𝑃𝐴
= 𝑆𝐸𝐸in×Table
𝛽 2.
+ The
𝐻𝐸𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇
× 𝛽analysis determined a weak
positive linear association between MVPA and SEE (p = 0.0732; see Figure 1). The addition of
BMI or height did not improve SEE’s ability to predict MVPA (MVPA = SEE × β0 + BMI × β1
𝑀𝑉𝑃𝐴
= 𝑆𝐸𝐸
𝛽 +of 𝑊𝐸𝐼𝐺𝐻
and MVPA = SEE × β 0 + HEIGHT × β 1 ) with non-significant
adjusted
R2 ×
values
𝑀𝑉𝑃𝐴
= 𝑆𝐸𝐸
𝛽 + (p
𝑆𝐸𝑋
× 𝛽 respectively. Similarly, neither weight nor
0.04846
(p = 0.185)
and×0.04218
= 0.2035),
sex improved the model’s predictive ability (MVPA = SEE × β 0 +
WEIGHT
× β 1×and
𝑀𝑉𝑃𝐴
= 𝑆𝐸𝐸
𝛽 + 𝐴𝐺𝐸
MVPA = SEE × β 0 + SEX × β 1 ) returning non-significant adjusted R2 values of 0.05185
(p = 0.1757) and 0.07119 (p = 0.1303). When age (MVPA = SEE × β 0 + AGE × β 1 ) was in× 𝛽 + 𝐴𝐺
cluded in the model, the adjusted R2 value was 0.2145, and a significant𝑀𝑉𝑃𝐴
p-value=
(p 𝑆𝐸𝐸
= 0.01148)
was obtained. The data clearly showed that MVPA = SEE × β 0 + AGE × β 1 was the best
model in this case. Since the adjusted R2 for this model (0.2145) was above that of the
adjusted R2 of the original model (0.07316) shown in Table 2, it can be concluded that
adding age into the model was more predictive than the other four variables.
Figure 1. Scatterplot showing the relationship between MVPA and SEE plotted with a line of best
fit (n = 32).
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Table 2. Model summaries.
Model
Intercept
Estimate
First
Coefficient
Estimate
Second
Coefficient
Estimate
p-Value
F-Statistic
Adjusted R2
MVPA = SEE × β 0
MVPA = SEE × β 0 + AGE × β 1
MVPA = SEE × β 0 + SEX × β 1
MVPA = SEE × β 0 + WEIGHT × β 1
MVPA = SEE × β 0 + BMI × β 1
MVPA = SEE × β 0 + HEIGHT × β 1
15.677
75.684
23.073
29.763
27.621
27.926
0.277
0.620
0.576
0.514
0.508
0.515
1.857
−1.842
−8.794
−0.159
−0.369
−0.073
0.073
0.011 *
0.130
0.176
0.185
0.204
3.447
5.232
2.188
1.848
1.789
1.683
3.447
5.232
2.188
1.848
1.789
1.683
* Indicates statistical significance.
4. Discussion
4.1. Main Findings
This pilot study examined the relationship between SEE and MVPA in police officers
serving in a small urban mid-western city. The main findings demonstrate that SEE significantly predicted police officers’ engagement in leisure-time MVPA when age was added as
a predictor variable. Our results suggest that SEE alone did not significantly predict officers’
engagement in MVPA. Interestingly, adding demographic and anthropometric variables
other than age to the model did not improve SEE’s ability to predict MVPA. Models that
included gender, height, weight, or BMI fared worse than the basic regression model. These
results are notable because a model’s ability to predict a relationship usually increases
with the addition of predictor variables [33]. Our hypothesis that officers with higher SEE
scores would engage in more MVPA was partially supported. We hypothesized that SEE
would predict officers’ MVPA, but instead, the relationship between SEE and MVPA was
best described with the addition of age as a predictor variable, where MVPA and age were
negatively related.
Comparing our results with the current literature is difficult. Much police research
focuses on changes in fitness assessment performance and not engagement in MVPA or
SEE [10,11,34]. However, one study describes changes in officers’ leisure-time physical
activity patterns after working for three years in the police force [9]. The retrospective
longitudinal study followed police students as they transitioned to officers for the first
three years of their policing careers. Physical activity levels and prioritization significantly
dropped among participants after serving three years as police officers [9]. These results
suggest elements of the policing vocation may hinder an officer’s ability to engage in
physical activity despite police fitness being critical to policing.
While younger age improved SEE’s ability to predict engagement in MVPA in our
study, the current literature describes mixed evidence regarding age-related changes in
fitness assessments and not MVPA. However, important comparisons are still possible. Orr
et al. [10] found differences in physical fitness between new police trainees and serving
officers, but age was not a significant predictor of physical fitness assessment results.
The authors suggest that the nature of the work environment led to losses in fitness.
Similarly, a longitudinal study by Lagestad et al. [11] describes a 10–32% decrease in
police officers’ performance in four fitness measures (bench press, standing long jump,
pull-ups, 3000 m run) after working for 16 years as police officers. However, in contrast
to these studies, Dawes et al. [34] found that older police officers (40–49 and 50–59 years)
scored much higher on a push-up test than the general population. In their sample of
518 officers, 98% of 40–49 year-olds and 100% of 50–59 year-olds were scored at a “very
good” or higher standard compared to normative population standards. Moreover, the
existing literature [10,11] positions age as the sole predictor of physical fitness assessment
performance, not MVPA. Further prospective research is required to fully understand the
relationship between age, physical fitness, and MVPA in police officers.
SEE has been linked to the long-term maintenance of physical activity [16,17]. Thus,
individuals with a higher SEE would be expected to engage in more physical activity.
However, our results demonstrate only a weak positive relationship between SEE and
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MVPA, contrasting a body of research that describes self-efficacy as a strong predictor
of physical activity [35–37]. Dalle Grave et al. [36] highlight the importance of SEE in a
recent review. They note that psychological predictors of physical activity success include
high SEE, while low SEE is a barrier to initiating and maintaining physical activity. Lewis
et al. [35] assessed differences between self-efficacy and perceived enjoyment as predictors
of physical activity behavior. While perceived enjoyment was important in physical activity
initiation, self-efficacy was more predictive of maintenance. Given that the officers in our
sample were required to pass a physical fitness assessment before earning their badge
(i.e., their occupation required some engagement in physical activity regardless of enjoyment), it seems logical to think that self-efficacy would be a better predictor of physical
activity than perceived enjoyment. However, it must be noted that officers’ physical activity habits are probably not so consistent that perceived enjoyment is inconsequential,
although our study did not measure this. Dineen et al. [37] describe a strong relationship
between SEE and MVPA. Interestingly, SEE mediated adherence to exercise 12 months postexercise intervention among participants in a moderate-intensity circuit training group [37].
However, among the study’s high-intensity interval group, SEE did not mediate exercise
adherence at the same timepoint [37]. SEE’s ability to predict engagement in physical activity is documented positively, but the extent to which SEE alone impacts physical activity
initiation and maintenance is less clear, as was demonstrated by our results. Additionally,
we were not adequately powered for sufficient generalizability as a pilot study.
Lastly, gender and anthropometric predictor variables did not improve our model’s
predictive ability. This result is surprising and contrasts with a relatively large body of
literature describing physical activity gender differences and decrements in physical fitness
assessment performance associated with higher weight and BMI [38–41]. Much of the
comparative literature explores the relationship between these predictor variables and
physical fitness assessments, not MVPA alone and without the addition of SEE. Therefore,
it is critical to make this distinction when positioning our findings within the current body
of literature. Gender differences are noted in a couple of studies examining physical fitness
assessment performance in police officers [10,11]; however, many studies exclude data from
females due to small sample sizes. While we did not exclude females from our analysis,
we only had six female survey respondents, which did not allow us to examine gender
differences. Thus, gender may have played a more significant role in our results if we had
a larger number of female participants.
4.2. Strengths and Limitations
Some study strengths and limitations should be noted. Our pilot study is the first to
our knowledge to investigate the relationship between SEE and MVPA in police officers. We
add important insight into the relationship between SEE and MVPA in police officers. We
used proven measures, including the SEE questionnaire and the GSLTPAQ. Both measures
attempt to add a temporal element (i.e., during a typical week) that may help reduce recall
bias. However, both questionnaires rely on self-reported physical activity data. The GSLTPAQ gives examples of vigorous, moderate, and light activities, but muscle-strengthening
activities were not explicitly listed. Officers may have contextualized their physical activity
according to their perception of it, especially muscle-strengthening activities. Moreover,
our cross-sectional design only allowed us to capture a snapshot of officers’ MVPA and SEE,
thus precluding us from making causal inferences. As a pilot study, we were geographically
limited to a smaller sample size. Our response rate was 31.7%, but of those invited to
complete the survey, only 26.2% completed it. Thus, our study results may not generalize to
our population as a whole or officers in other police departments. Using objective measures
of MVPA, such as accelerometer data, may allow for a more complete understanding of the
relationship between SEE and MVPA. Qualitative interview data may also further explain
this relationship. Future research should also longitudinally investigate the relationships
between MVPA, SEE, and fitness assessment performance over time.
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4.3. Practical Applications
Police organizations could assess leisure-time physical activity, especially MVPA, to
better understand an officer’s overall fitness. SEE could be considered when assessing
MVPA engagement. Police organizations could implement policies that allow exercise
while on the clock and provide access to exercise equipment on-site to increase officers’
SEE and engagement in MVPA. Wellness initiatives that increase SEE, such as exercise
tracking worksheets, department fitness events, or motivational interviewing, may promote
officers’ engagement in MVPA. Lifestyle and nutrition counseling could be offered through
police organizations to augment officer well-being beyond improving SEE or increasing
engagement in MVPA.
5. Conclusions
The nature of police work requires physical fitness. Officers are exposed to many
health-related risks, including shift work and high stress, that may decrease their ability
to respond to an altercation or incident. Moreover, officers may transition from a nearly
sedentary state to high-intensity activity at a moment’s notice. Officers’ physical fitness
remains critical to ensure they can meet the job’s physical demands, but a deeper understanding of their engagement in MVPA is required. We found a weak positive relationship
between SEE and MVPA that was strengthened by adding age as a predictor variable.
This study adds to a growing body of knowledge that looks beyond annual fitness assessments to leisure-time physical activity, specifically MVPA. Most officers in our study
were overweight or obese, yet they passed their annual fitness assessment. The disconnect
between fitness assessment performance and physical fitness is not ideal and does not
support the long-term sustainability of a capable workforce, warranting further exploration.
With an improved understanding of officers’ ability to engage in physical activity, police
organizations can implement effective policies that promote fitness and well-being in this
essential population, especially as they age.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, A.E.S. and K.M.H.; methodology, A.E.S., E.L.M. and
K.M.H.; software, A.E.S. and A.B.; validation, A.E.S. and A.B.; formal analysis, A.E.S. and A.B.;
investigation, A.E.S.; resources, A.E.S.; data curation, A.E.S.; writing—original draft preparation,
A.E.S. and A.B.; writing—review and editing, A.E.S., A.B., E.L.M. and K.M.H.; visualization, A.E.S.
and A.B.; supervision, E.L.M. and K.M.H.; project administration, K.M.H.; funding acquisition, not
applicable. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration
of Helsinki and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Kansas State University (protocol
code IRB-10914 and 5 November 2021).
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement: Data are available from the corresponding author.
Acknowledgments: The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Murry Streetman
for his law-enforcement-specific expertise in creating the survey instrument and for his edits to
the manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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