Julien E. Bois

Mothers' Expectancies and Young Adolescents' Perceived Physical Competence: A Yearlong Study.

Perceived physical competence can be an important predictor of the physical activity behavior of children and adolescents. Parental socialization practices can be instrumental in shaping children’s perceptions of competence in various domains and this socialization effect might occur in relation to parental expectancies. Investigated in this study was the role of mothers’expectancies in shaping their child’s perceived physical competence. Data were obtained from 156 French children and young adolescents and their mothers. Structural equation modeling revealed that mothers’ perceptions of their child’s physical competence predicted their child’s own perceived physical competence 1 year later, independent of the child’s previously demonstrated physical ability and the child’s initial level of perceived competence. Child’s gender moderated the relation as mothers’perceptions of their daughters’competence were related significantly to their child’s perceived competence, but that relation was not present between mothers and sons.

Teacher Feedback and Interactions in Physical Education: Effects of Student Gender and Physical Activities.

Previous research conducted in both classroom and physical education (PE) settings has examined the impact of student gender on teacher—student interactions. The purpose of this study was to extend this line of research by analysing the influence of student gender and different types of physical activity on the frequency and nature of teacher interaction patterns toward boys and girls. Seventy 10th grade students and their two respective PE teachers were examined during 18 PE lessons. Each teacher was observed nine times in two physical activities (badminton and circuit weight training). Teacher—student interactions were systematically coded with an adapted version of the Coaching Behavior Assessment System (CBAS). Classroom interactions significantly varied on the basis of student gender, type of physical activity and the gender composition of the class and the teacher. The findings from this study suggest that future research should consider that physical activities offered in PE curricula may moderate gender differentiated interaction patterns.

A cross-cultural study of adolescents' physical activity levels in France and Spain

Abstract The goals of this study were (1) to describe and compare levels of physical activity (PA), assessed by accelerometry, of adolescents in two close Spanish and French cities according to gender and period of the week and (2) to assess, with reference to country and gender, the extent to which international PA guidelines were fulfilled. The PA of 401 adolescents (53.37% females) from France and Spain (55.72% French) aged 14.45±0.67 years was assessed with GT3X accelerometers for seven consecutive days to evaluate their habitual levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data collection took place from September to December 2010 in six public and state schools in France and Spain. There were significant differences in MVPA in terms of country, gender and period of the week. Spanish adolescents were more active than French adolescents, boys were more active than girls and MVPA was higher on weekdays than at weekends. French girls showed the lowest level of PA. Only 35.9% of the whole sample met the guidelines for PA in both countries. Governments of relevant countries, especially France, should adopt PA promotion policies targeted at adolescents in order to enhance their compliance with PA guidelines.

Effect of weather, school transport, and perceived neighborhood characteristics on moderate to vigorous physical activity levels of adolescents from two European cities

The main goal of this study is to analyze the influence of several environmental factors (temperature, precipitation, mode and duration of school transport, perception of physical activity [PA] opportunities, and perceived neighborhood walkability) on adolescent’s daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels of two European mid-sized cities. Data were collected from a sample of 829 adolescents (49.7% Spanish; 55.2% females; 14.33 ± 0.73 years). Daily meteorological data were collected for the valid days for each subject and MVPA levels were assessed with Actigraph GT3X accelerometer during seven consecutive days. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Warmer weather (p < .01), lower levels of precipitation (p < .05), and use of active school transport (p < .05) were significantly associated with higher MVPA levels. Environmental neighborhood perception did not show significant influence. Further efforts should be carried out to increase PA opportunities during colder periods, rainy days, and to promote the use of active transport

Regular physical activity reduces the effects of Achilles tendon vibration on postural control for older women.

The aim was to determine in what extent physical activity influences postural control when visual, vestibular, and/or proprioceptive systems are disrupted. Two groups of healthy older women: an active group (74.0 ± 3.8 years) who practiced physical activities and a sedentary group (74.7 ± 6.3 years) who did not, underwent 12 postural conditions consisted in altering information emanating from sensory systems by means of sensory manipulations (i.e., eyes closed, cervical collar, tendon vibration, electromyostimulation, galvanic vestibular stimulation, foam surface). The center of foot pressure velocity was recorded on a force platform. Results indicate that the sensory manipulations altered postural control. The sedentary group was more disturbed than the active group by the use of tendon vibration. There was no clear difference between the two groups in the other conditions. This study suggests that the practice of physical activities is beneficial as a means of limiting the effects of tendon vibration on postural control through a better use of the not manipulated sensory systems and/or a more efficient reweighting to proprioceptive information from regions unaffected by the tendon vibration.