Causal Conditions of Adolescent Girls' Tendency toward Physical Activities

Introduction: The success of establishing regular physical activity lies in the way these activities are built into a person's daily life. This study was designed to explore the causal conditions of adolescent girls' tendency toward physical activities. Method: A qualitative study was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews with 25 participants (16 adolescents, 7 mothers, and 2 fathers). The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The theme of "the pursuit of excellence" with subthemes of "the need for physical health, psychological health, foresight, progress seeking, and desire for superiority and fitness" emerged as causal conditions of adolescent girls' tendency toward physical activities. Conclusion: In the present study, adolescent girls seeking progress and excellence turned to physical activities. Through a better understanding of the casual conditions of adolescent girls' tendency toward physical activities, we can provide the appropriate context for the formation of exercising habit, and as a result, human health promotion Keywords: Physical activities, Adolescent girls, Causal conditions, Content analysi