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The primary purpose of this study was to examine physical activity, nutritional intake, and psychological well-being differences between youth with visual impairments and their siblings residing in the same household. A secondary purpose was to examine the relationship between physical activity behavior and psychological well-being among youth with visual impairments. A sample of 22 dyads of youth with visual impairments and siblings completed this study. Data were collected through parent-reported demographic and psychological well-being questionnaires, nutritional intake questionnaires, and accelerometry. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially, examining proportion difference using McNemar's z-test, and mean differences using multivariate analyses of variance. Siblings without visual impairments had higher but not significantly higher daily average moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (d = 0.46), significantly higher prosocial score (d = 0.63), and lower but not significantly lower difficulty scores (d = 0.39), than youth with visual impairments. Small, not statistically significant, nutritional intake differences between siblings were found. Differences in physical activity and nutritional habits between those with visual impairments and their siblings were not significant, supporting the environmentally driven nature of these variables. Associations between physical activity and well-being were not apparent in this study but may be partially explained by low participant physical activity. Youth with visual impairments and the siblings may be influenced by the same familial factors and molded in a similar fashion by parenting behaviors regarding health-related behaviors. In this study, youth with visual impairments engaged in similar physical activity and nutritional behaviors to their siblings without visual impairments. Efforts to improve health-related behaviors among those with visual impairments may be most effective at the family level. Small subsets of youth with visual impairments gain mental health benefits from physical activity engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between self-efficacy for exercise, physical activity, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adults with visual impairments. Adults with visual impairments were invited via email through two visual impairment organizations in the United States to complete four questionnaires: (a) the international physical activity questionnaire-short form, (b) the self-efficacy to exercise behaviors scale, (c) the medical outcomes study short form health survey, and (d) a demographic questionnaire. One hundred fifty-nine participants (Mage = 44.77) provided complete surveys for analyses. Data were analyzed using three components: (a) a descriptive analysis, (b) a confirmatory factor analysis, and (c) a test of a hypothesized structural model. Both self-efficacy and HRQoL were tenable among this population with two item removals. Self-efficacy had a direct association (β = 0.26), and an indirect association (β = 0.17) with HRQoL which was mediated by participants' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). MVPA was positively associated with psychological health (β = 0.17), but not with physical health. The findings of this study suggest that self-efficacy can both directly and indirectly, through MVPA, influence HRQoL among adults with visual impairments. This study supports the utilization of self-efficacy based interventions to promote physical activity and thus impact HRQoL among adults with visual impairments. Adults with visual impairments tend to report lower health-related quality of life than peers without visual impairments. In this study, physical activity shows promise as an effective means to improving psychological health-related quality of life for adults with visual impairments. In this study, self-efficacy directly and indirectly, through physical activity, influences health-related quality of life for adults with visual impairments. Results support the utilization of self-efficacy based physical activity interventions to enhance physical activity and health-related quality of life among adults with visual impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]