Bente Wold

Tracking of leisure-time physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood: a 10-year longitudinal study

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to show how participation in leisure-time physical activity changes between ages 13 to 23, and to what extent engaging in specific types of sports tracks into young adulthood.MethodsThe sample comprised 630 subjects who responded to questionnaires at age 13, with seven follow-ups over a 10-year period in the Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study. The associations between adolescent participation in global and specific types of leisure-time physical activity were examined by analyses of variance, regression analysis and growth curve analysis.ResultsThe findings suggest that the transition from adolescence to adulthood is, on average, a period of decline in physical activity, but with the decline levelling off into adulthood. The decline was significantly greater among males than females. There were substantial individual differences in the amount of change, in particular among males.Jogging alone and cycling, recreational activities such as skiing and hiking, and ball games, showed a high degree of tracking from age 15 to 23.The findings indicate low associations between participation in specific types of activities during adolescence and global leisure-time physical activity in young adulthood, while participation in several adolescent physical activities simultaneously was moderately related to later activity. Thus, being involved in various types of physical activity may offer good opportunities for establishing lifelong involvement in physical activity, independent of the specific type of activity.ConclusionThe observed variation in change might suggest a need for a more targeted approach, with a focus on subgroups of individuals. The group of inactive youth may be considered as a high risk group, and the findings suggest that adolescent males who are inactive early seem likely to continue to be inactive later.The observed heterogeneity in change highlights the limitation of previous approaches to analyzing physical levels over time, and suggests that multilevel analysis should be used in future research on longitudinal data on physical activity.

School-Related Stress, School Support, and Somatic Complaints A General Population Study

This study examines the relationship between school-related stress, social support from teachers and classmates, and somatic complaints in the general population of Norwegian adolescents. The study was undertaken as part of the World Health Organization’s survey “Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children” (HBSC). A representative sample of 4,952 Norwegian 11- to 15-year-olds completed self-report measures on school-related stress, social support from teacher and classmates, and the HBSC symptom checklist. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that students with high levels of school-related stress had a higher odds ratio (OR) for weekly headache (4.1), abdominal pain (3.9), backache (4.8), dizziness (5.4), and coexisting somatic complaints(6.1). For social support, the associations were weaker but students with low classmate support had a consistently higher OR for weekly symptoms. Interaction terms of school-related stress and social support did not reach significance. Findings suggest that adolescents’ frequency of somatic complaints partly may reflect their adaptation to ordinary school demands.

Organized youth sport as a predictor of physical activity in adulthood

The aim of this study was to examine whether early and sustained organized youth sport during childhood and adolescence predicts the frequency of leisure‐time physical activity (PA) at age 23 years. A 10‐year longitudinal study of 630 adolescents was conducted. Data were collected from these participants eight times from the ages of 13 to 23 years and were analyzed by analysis of variance and regression. There was a high degree of consistency in participation in organized youth sport in terms of reporting to be a member of a sports club, especially from age 13 to 16 years. The correlation coefficients tended to be higher among males and decreased over time both in females and males. The age at becoming a member in organized sport and duration of participation in organized youth sports during adolescence predicted 9% of the variance of young adult PA. The correlations were higher in males than in females, but these differences were not significant. Organized youth sports during childhood and adolescence was positively related to frequency of leisure‐time PA in young adulthood. Joining organized youth sports at an early age and continuing through adolescence appear to increase the likelihood for a physically active lifestyle in young adulthood.

Oral Hygiene Habits of 11-year-old Schoolchildren in 22 European Countries and Canada in 1993/1994

This study is part of the Cross-National Survey on Health Behaviour in School-aged Children-a WHO Collaborative Study, which started in 1982. The aim of the study was to describe the oral hygiene habits (toothbrushing and flossing) of 11-year-old schoolchildren in 22 European countries (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, and Wales) and Canada. The data were collected from standardized anonymous questionnaires in school classrooms during the 1993-1994 school year. At least 1300 schoolchildren, representing the whole country, participated in the study in each country. Oral hygiene habits were analyzed according to gender, age, country, school performance, and family economy. The children brushed most favorably in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Norway (83-73% brushed twice a day). More-than-once-a-day toothbrushing was especially uncommon (from 26 to 33%) among boys in Finland, Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, and Latvia. Toothbrushing frequency differed significantly according to school performance in Canada, the Czech Republic, Scotland, Poland, Northern Ireland, and Wales and between different socio-economic groups in Northern Ireland, Wales, the Czech Republic, Scotland, Poland, and Russia. Use of dental floss was rare. In general, flossing was less frequent among boys than among girls. Daily flossing was most common among Canadian adolescents (25%). In conclusion, there are considerable differences in toothbrushing frequency among children in European countries.

The Teacher and Classmate Support Scale Factor Structure, Test-Retest Reliability and Validity in Samples of 13-and 15-Year-Old Adolescents

This article presents results on the factor structure, testretest reliability and external validity of the Teacher and Classmate Support scale, a brief self-report measure on perceived support from teachers and classmates. The main study included 315 13-year-olds and 366 15-year-olds. At 7-10 days after the main study, a subsample of 57 13-year-olds and 51 15-year-olds took part in a retest study. A confirmatory factor analysis of the scale showed that a correlated 2-factor model fitted the data well in both age groups, indicating that the division into a teacher and a classmate subscale is a valid measurement model. Both subscales correlated moderately with school motivation, but weakly with a measure on subjective health complaints. Convergent validity was indicated by moderate to strong relationships between the teacher subscale and an independent measure on teacher support, and by moderate relationships between the classmate subscale and an independent measure on friend support. Test-retest correlations were 0.69 for the teacher subscale and 0.74 for the classmate subscale. The scale offers promise as a parsimonious self-report measure on classmate and teacher support, but more evidence is needed before the scale can be recommended for wider research purposes.

Relieving the Pressure? The Role of Physical Activity in the Relationship between School-Related Stress and Adolescent Health Complaints

Abstract The present study includes a Norwegian sample of 15-year-old students (N = 1,670) and is part of a World Health Organization cross-national survey, Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (Currie, 1998). The objective was to examine the relationship between school-related stress, leisure time physical activity, and adolescent health complaints. Physical activity was also examined as a moderating variable in the relationship between school-related stress and health complaints. The results showed that high levels of complaints were associated in a linear relationship with high levels of school-related stress and low levels of leisure time physical activity. Reports of complaints were more closely related to stress for adolescents with low levels of physical activity; thus, physical activity seems to moderate the relationship between school-related stress and health complaints.

Trajectories of Global Self-Esteem Development during Adolescence.

Based on data from a 17-year longitudinal study of 1083 adolescents, from the ages of 13 to 30 years, the average development of self-reported global self-esteem was found to be high and stable during adolescence. However, there is considerable inter-individual variance in baseline and development of global self-esteem. This study used latent growth mixture modelling to characterize three trajectory classes of global self esteem between ages 14 and 23 years: consistently high, chronically low, and U-shaped. The respondents in three classes showed statistically significant different levels of life satisfaction, depressive mood, somatic complaints and insomnia at age 30. Attempts to predict trajectories from age 13 were only partially successful, with body image, relations with parents and frequency of physical activity as the significant predictors.

Tracking of Physical Activity in Adolescence.

The present analysis aimed to describe the degree of tracking of physical activity over an 8-year follow-up period among a cohort of 557 adolescents in western Norway (13 years of age at baseline). Frequency and time spent in leisure-time physical activity were assessed at ages 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 and 21 years through self-report questionnaires. The cross-sectional results indicated that proportions of adolescents who were physically active declined from 13 to 19 years of age and increased slightly from 19 to 21 years of age. Longitudinally, various measures indicated a weak degree of tracking of physical activity (Pearsons r was .22 for boys and .18 for girls across the 8-year period). The least active persons during early adolescence were those least likely to change during their teenage years. In sum, the findings indicated a weak tendency of tracking of physical activity through adolescence.

Promoting Adolescent health through an intervention aimed at improving the quality of their participation in Physical Activity (PAPA): Background to the project and main trial protocol

Funded by the European Commission, the Promoting Adolescent health through an intervention is aimed at improving the quality of their participation in Physical Activity (PAPA) project revolved around the potential of youth sport to promote childrens mental and emotional health and physical activity engagement. A theoretically grounded coach education training programme (i.e. Empowering Coaching™), which was designed to create a sporting environment which was more positive and adaptive for young children, was customised for grassroots soccer, delivered and evaluated via a multi-method cluster RCT across five European countries; namely, England, France, Greece, Norway and Spain. In this article, a key part of the protocol of this large and multi-faceted project is presented. The ethical standards and procedures, characteristics of the population targeted and overall study design, and core self-report questionnaire measures completed by the players are described. Information is provided as well on the translation principles and procedures and data-collection procedures adopted in the PAPA project.

School-related stress, social support, and distress: Prospective analysis of reciprocal and multilevel relationships

This three-wave prospective study investigated the reciprocal relationships among school-related stress, school-related social support, and distress in a cohort of 767 secondary school students (mean age 13.9 years). Stress, support, and distress were measured at three occasions with six-month lags between. Reciprocal relationships were analyzed with multivariate multilevel modeling (MLwiN). Each of the three factors at baseline predicted change in one or two of the other factors at subsequent measurements, indicating a complex pattern of reciprocal relationships among stress, support, and distress across time. A high level of distress at baseline predicted a lower level of support and a higher level of stress six months later. High levels of stress at baseline predicted a higher level of distress and a lower level of support 12 months later. The results are consistent with a transactional and dynamic model of stress, support, and distress, and indicate the need to view school-related stress, support, and distress as mutually dependent factors.