Background: The sense of empowerment that comes from good health based on an ability to manage daily challenges is something that needs to be developed and supported from childhood into adulthood. This early empowerment may help to maintain a healthy lifestyle of young people, especially in places which have recently suffered severely from high social tension and stress.
Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the associations of sense of coherence (SOC), physical activity (PA), and the role of gender and age in young adolescents from Kosovo. A total of 1296 adolescents aged 13-16 years from randomly selected schools in the seven major municipalities of Kosovo participated in the study in 2014. SOC was determined with a short version of a SOC-13 questionnaire with its three components: manageability (SOC-Ma), meaningfulness (SOC-Me), and comprehensibility (SOC-Co). The level of PA was determined with a Physical Activity Screening Measure. The associations were examined by a three-way hierarchical regression.
Results: The analyses indicated that young Kosovar boys with strong SOC were characterized by a higher level of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). There was no such effect in girls. Interactional effects were noticed for Kosovar boys for meaningfulness and comprehensibility sub-components of SOC and the level of MVPA. Strong meaningfulness was associated with higher MVPA. For girls, we showed differentiation according to age groups, we noticed that older adolescent girls with strong meaningfulness also had higher MVPA. No significant associations were found in the two other sub-components of SOC.
Conclusions: The association between global SOC, gender and age indicated the interactions with the level of MVPA. People with higher SOC are characterized by a higher level of MVPA, but the relation is gender sensitive. This versatility should be taken into account in planning future PA intervention, specifically in societies with high ethnical and religious strains.