Emotional and instrumental social support provided by fathers, mothers, and friends were positively and significantly associated with time spent on sports, physical exercises, recreational activities, and active displacement in adolescents over a longitudinal period.
Key Findings
Results
Emotional and instrumental social support from fathers, mothers, and friends were positively and significantly associated with time spent on sports, physical exercises, and recreational activities in adolescents.
Study was observational and longitudinal, spanning 2014 to 2017 with yearly data collection.
Sample included 330 adolescents (50.6% girls), aged 10 to 13 years at baseline in 2014, from João Pessoa, Paraíba state, Brazil.
Physical activity was measured by questionnaire capturing time (minutes/week) spent on sports, physical exercise, recreational activities, and active displacement.
Both emotional and instrumental support sources included father, mother, and friends.
Results
Social support from mothers was positively and significantly associated with active displacement in adolescents.
Active displacement was associated with maternal social support specifically, distinguishing mothers from other support sources in this outcome.
This finding was specific to maternal support, as support from fathers and friends was not reported to show the same association with active displacement.
Physical activity outcomes measured included sports, physical exercise, recreational activities, and active displacement.
Results
Instrumental support provided by friends exhibited a greater magnitude of association with time spent on sports and recreational activities compared to emotional support from friends.
The difference in magnitude between instrumental and emotional support from friends was statistically significant (p≤0.05).
This comparison was specific to friend-provided support and the outcomes of sports and recreational activities.
The finding suggests that practical, tangible support from peers may be more strongly linked to certain physical activity types than emotional encouragement.
Results
Adolescents who received greater social, emotional, and/or instrumental support from parents and friends spent more time on sports, physical exercises, and recreational activities over the years.
The longitudinal design tracked changes over three years (2014 to 2017) with yearly data collection points.
The relationship was observed across multiple activity domains: sports, physical exercises, and recreational activities.
The study assessed moderation of the social support–physical activity relationship by sex and age of adolescents.
The sample was drawn from a single city (João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil), which may limit generalizability.
What This Means
This research followed 330 Brazilian adolescents aged 10 to 13 years over three years (2014–2017) to understand how social support from parents and friends relates to physical activity levels. The researchers measured how much time the teens spent on sports, exercise, recreational activities, and active transportation (like walking or cycling to places), and also tracked whether they received emotional support (encouragement, caring) or instrumental support (practical help, like rides or equipment) from their fathers, mothers, and friends.
This research suggests that adolescents who received more support — whether emotional or practical — from parents and friends tended to be more physically active over time. Notably, practical (instrumental) support from friends appeared to have a stronger link to sports and recreational activity participation than emotional support from friends. Support from mothers was specifically linked to active transportation, such as walking or cycling rather than taking motorized transport.
These findings highlight that physical activity in adolescents is not just an individual choice but is shaped by the social environment around them — particularly the roles of parents and peers. This suggests that efforts to increase adolescent physical activity might benefit from involving family members and friends, and that providing practical assistance (such as facilitating access to activities) may be especially influential alongside emotional encouragement.
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Moura I, Cabral T, Mendonça G, Camargo E, Florindo A, Rech C, et al.. (2026). Social support and physical activity in adolescents: a longitudinal study.. Ciencia & saude coletiva. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232026319.10322024