Karla A. Henderson

Environmental correlates of physical activity: a review of evidence about parks and recreation.

Research on physical activity (PA) has expanded in recent years to examine environmental influences that enhance or limit the opportunities people have to be active. The purpose of this study was to review and critically examine evidence related to parks and recreation as features of the built environment and the relationship of these settings to PA. Fifty studies were retrieved from four major databases that reported an empirical relationship between parks or recreation variables and PA variables. Mixed associations with PA were observed for different types of parks or recreation settings, while proximity to parks or recreation was generally associated with increased PA. Shortcomings exist in this literature and many opportunities for researching parks, recreation, and active living are evident for the future.

Gender‐based analysis of leisure constraints

Abstract Using data derived from two provincewide surveys of the general public of Alberta, Canada, two empirical questions were addressed: (a) What constraints to leisure do women and men experience, and (b) how does the context of personal and situational circumstances (e.g., age, income, and family structure) filter the effects of constraints among women and men ? Several differences emerged between women and men in terms of the intensity and nature of the constraints, leading to the conclusion that women are overall more constrained in their leisure than men. The data also demonstrate that the experience of leisure constraints is characterized by as many within‐gender differences as between‐gender differences. Selected context variables related to age, income, and family structure are mediating factors that alter, reinforce, or alleviate constraints for women, depending on the nature of the context and on the type of constraint. The study points to the need to think in terms of diversities and plurali...

A leisure of one's own : a feminist perspective on women's leisure

Women and leisure: more truth than facts. The ideal woman: a historical perspective on womens leisure. Feminism and leisure. The meaning of leisure in womens everyday lives. Leisure as a development issue. Leisure participation for women: problems and possibilities. Constraints on womens leisure. Women and leisure: the future. Bibliography.

Environmental, policy, and cultural factors related to physical activity in African American women.

SUMMARY Six focus groups were conducted in South Carolina with African American women (n = 42) aged 19–51 years to identify factors that influence physical activity. Transcripts were analyzed using NUD*IST. Cultural influences were seen as more important in determining the type of physical activity than its level. Barriers to and enablers of physical activity were identified in the social and physical environments, as were policy issues affecting physical activity in the community and at the work site. Potential community and work site interventions were suggested. Child care and monetary costs were frequently cited as barriers to physical activity.

A sense of entitlement to leisure as constraint and empowerment for women

Abstract A number of leisure researchers have indicated that women believe that they have no right to leisure and this belief places a severe limitation on their construction of time for leisure and their attitudes toward leisure. This conceptual article describes entitlement and related background research, offers some reasons why the sense of a lack of entitlement might be so pervasive among women, concludes through an exploratory pilot study that the priority of leisure in a womans life may be an important aspect of entitlement, and offers suggestions concerning how women may gain empowerment through a sense of entitlement to leisure within their lives. This article raises questions that require further pursuit by other researchers who are attempting to understand more completely the meaning of leisure for women and the constraints that may prevent a full realization of ones potential for leisure.

The relationship between barriers to recreation and gender-role personality traits for women.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the barriers to recreation confronting women and to determine the relationship between perceived barriers and gender-role traits as measured by androgynou...

Personal, social, and physical environmental correlates of physical activity in African-American women in South Carolina.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the correlates of physical activity among African-American women living in the southeastern United States. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of personal, social, cultural, environmental, and policy variables with physical activity among women in ethnic minority groups. METHODS The Women and Physical Activity Survey was used in a telephone interview of 917 African-American women living in two counties in South Carolina. The sample of women was selected by random-digit dialing. RESULTS Approximately one third (34.1%) of the women met current recommendations for moderate or vigorous physical activity, 49.4% were insufficiently active, and 16.5% were inactive. Meeting the recommendations or engaging in insufficient activity (versus inactive) was related to attaining higher educational levels, being married or with a partner; being in excellent or very good health, having greater self-efficacy, seeing people exercise in the neighborhood, having more favorable ratings of women who exercise (social issues score), having lower social role strain, and reporting the presence of sidewalks or lighter traffic in the neighborhood. CONCLUSION Multiple factors influence physical activity. Interventions to increase physical activity should use multilevel approaches that incorporate the personal, social environmental, and physical environmental factors related to participation in physical activity.

The meaning of leisure for women: an integrative review of the research.

Researchers are beginning to correct the distortion and invisibility of information about womens leisure. The purpose of this integrative review is to synthesize the recent literature concerning womens leisure in order to explore the complex interrelationships and dimensions of womens lives. In examining the literature, assumptions about leisure and feminist perspectives are offered as a context for understanding womens lives. The consistencies in the research literature, as well as the contradictions, associated with the meaning of leisure in womens lives are presented. The author concludes that frameworks and hypotheses for better understanding womens lives are emerging, a variety of methods are being used to collect appropriate data, and both women and men have the potential for helping to empower women through continuing research on the meaning of leisure in womens lives.

The Ethic of Care: Leisure Possibilities and Constraints for Women

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to provide a review and an interpretive framework for examining the “ethic of care” (i.e., the activity of relationships) as it offers possibilities and constraints for the leisure of women. The explanatory implications of the ethic of care are useful in further understanding antecedent and intervening constraints to leisure as well as understanding the empowering possibilities of leisure for women. The paper uses a feminist framework to address the concept of an ethic of care, the ways that the ethic has been embodied in leisure behavior for women primarily within the family, the link between an ethic of care and constraints to leisure for women, and the possibilities for the value of an ethic of care in the leisure of all individuals. In describing the experiences of women, the ethic of care is not meant to further dichotomize males and females in leisure but to offer an explanation of womens leisure and to provide some ideas that require further empirical research.

Leisure and Active Lifestyles: Research Reflections

Leisure researchers have been studying active living for many years. The research, however, has focused more on individual factors than social and environmental determinants that enable physical activity and health. The focus of the introduction to this special issue on “leisure and active lifestyles” is to highlight leisure literature that can be directly tied to active living. These dimensions include outdoor recreation, community recreation areas and facilities, time usage, barriers and constraints, and social interdependence. We provide an overview of the significance of the papers in this special issue and offer some reflections regarding future research related to active living, physical activity, health, and leisure. We underline the value of the holistic approach evident in leisure research and call for broader methods and more collaborative transdisciplinary research.