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Physical Activity
Albert Bandura defines perceived self-efficacy as “people's beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives.” Self-efficacy is just one of six constructs that SCT is based on; the other five include reciprocal determinism, behavioral capability, observational learning, reinforcements, and expectations.

A lack of physical activity has been shown to contribute to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer even in individuals without any other risk factors. Social cognitive theory can be helpful in identifying motivating factors that lead to increased physical activity across age and gender. A study by Yael Netz and Shulamith Raviv in 2004 found positive correlations between high levels of self-efficacy when compared to physical activity. These findings suggest the best motivational method to increase the rate of physical activity is one that first increases perceived self-efficacy. As applied to public health campaigns, the first symptom to address is low levels of perceived self-efficacy rather than low levels of physical activity, since addressing the former may rectify the latter.

A different study conducted in 2015 observed similar results. The goal of this study was to identify if SCT could be used to “…improve physical activity (PA) interventions by identifying which variables to target to maximize intervention impact.” By following 204 overweight men over the course of a three-month weight loss program, researchers applied a longitudinal, latent variable structural equation model to test SCT-related constructs including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, intention and social support as they apply toward self-reported changes in physical activity level. Researchers found self-efficacy as the most important indicator for physical activity, while noting a non-zero effect of intention on increased physical activity. As such, weight loss programs focused on increasing the physical activity levels of participants should aim to increase participant self-efficacy in order to achieve desirable results.

Physical activity levels, on average, decline during one’s life – particularly during adolescence. SCT can be used to explain the most prevalent contributing factors to this marked decrease in physical activity among adolescents and then develop appropriate intervention methods to best change this phenomenon. One study in particular addresses this subject through the SCT framework. Researchers mailed questionnaires to a random sample of 937 undergraduate students in the U.S. to measure the influence of personal, behavioral, and environmental factors on exercise behavior change. For both men and women, increased self-efficacy was the most important predictor in signifying positive changes to exercise behavior and physical activity.

SCT can be applied to public health campaigns in an attempt to foster a more healthy public through exercise; as it relates, multiple studies find self-efficacy as the most important variable in predicting high- or low-levels of physical activity.

AIDS
Miller's 2005 study found that choosing the proper gender, age, and ethnicity for models ensured the success of an AIDS campaign to inner city teenagers. This occurred because participants could identify with a recognizable peer, have a greater sense of self-efficacy, and then imitate the actions to learn the proper preventions and actions.

Breastfeeding
A study by Azza Ahmed in 2009 looked to see if there would be an increase in breastfeeding by mothers of preterm infants when exposed to a breastfeeding educational program guided by SCT. Sixty mothers were randomly assigned to either participate in the program or they were given routine care. The program consisted of SCT strategies that touched on all three SCT determinants: personal – showing models performing breastfeeding correctly to improve self-efficacy, behavioral –weekly check-ins for three months reinforced participants' skills, environmental – mothers were given an observational checklist to make sure they successfully completed the behavior. The author found that mothers exposed to the program showed significant improvement in their breastfeeding skills, were more likely to exclusively breastfeed, and had fewer problems then the mothers who were not exposed to the educational program.