Megan Babkes Stellino

Differences in Children's Recess Physical Activity: Recess Activity of the Week Intervention.

BACKGROUND The increased prevalence in recent childhood obesity rates raises concern about youth health and the role that lack of physical activity plays in this trend. A focus on how children today choose to spend their discretionary time is one approach that may yield ideas for how to reduce childhood obesity. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether 3 separate recess activities of the week (RAWs) would make a difference in childrens discretionary time physical activity levels. METHODS Children (N = 65: 30 boys, 35 girls; 32 first and second graders; 33 third and fourth graders; 45 healthy body mass index [BMI], 20 overweight BMI) at 1 Midwest elementary school wore pedometers for each 15-minute morning recess period for 4 weeks. Following 1 no RAW (#1), a new RAW was introduced each subsequent week: #2, circuit course; #3, obstacle course; and #4, Frisbees. RESULTS Repeated measures factorial analysis of variance results revealed that children were significantly more active during the no RAW and circuit course week than the Frisbee week. Males were significantly more physically active than females during the obstacle course week. Older children were significantly more active during the Frisbee week than younger children. Healthy BMI children were significantly more physically active during the circuit course week than children in the overweight/obese BMI category. CONCLUSIONS Results imply that it is important for schools to consider demographic factors in the creation of recess opportunities to increase physical activity.

Psychological Predictors of Children's Recess Physical Activity Motivation and Behavior

Purpose: This study explored the relationship between childrens basic psychological needs satisfaction at recess, level of recess physical activity motivation (RPAM), and recess physical activity (RPA). Method: Fifth-grade children (N = 203; 50.2% boys; 71.7% healthy-weight) completed measures of age, gender, basic psychological need satisfaction, and level of self-determined motivation for RPA. Children also wore pedometers during six consecutive 30-min mid-school-day recesses. Results: Multiple regression analyses indicated unique significant predictors of RPAM and RPA according to gender and weight status. RPAM was significantly predicted by all three basic psychological needs for boys and only competence need satisfaction for girls and healthy-weight children. RPA was predicted by RPAM for girls, competence need satisfaction for overweight children, and autonomy need satisfaction for boys and healthy-weight children. Conclusions: Findings support self-determination theory and provide important insight into the variations in psychological predictors of motivation for RPA and actual physical activity behavior based on gender and weight status.

Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction, Motivation, and Exercise in Older Adults

A predominate motivation theory used to predict exercise behavior is self-determination theory, which posits that motivation is driven by satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This study investigates the relationship between motivation, basic psychological needs satisfaction, and exercise in a sample of older adults. Significant differences were found between older adult exercisers and nonexercisers in intrinsic motivation, self-determined extrinsic motivation, nonself-determined extrinsic motivation, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This study suggests that self-determination theory is a suitable framework to investigate older adult exercise behaviors.

The Impact of a Multi-Component Physical Activity Programme in Low-Income Elementary Schools.

Objective: To identify the effects of a structured and multifaceted physical activity and recess intervention on student and adult behaviour in school. Design: Mixed-methods and community-based participatory approach. Setting: Large, urban, low-income school district in the USA. Methods: Data were collected at three time points over a 1-year period. Sources included recess observations at four elementary schools, in-class behavioural observations of fifth-grade students (n = 21) and focus groups with fourth- and fifth-grade students (n = 75). Results: Results suggested an increased amount of positive interactions between adults and students and a decreased amount of conflict in the playground post intervention. Results also suggested that a peer-leadership training programme had beneficial effects on students’ classroom behaviour. Conclusion: Results from this study provide evidence that school recess can be used to teach social–emotional competencies that can impact student behaviour during recess and in the classroom.

Threat, Pressure, and Communication about Concussion Safety: Implications for Parent Concussion Education.

Background. Parental communication about the importance of reporting concussion symptoms can influence a child’s attitudes about such reporting, and is likely related to perceived threat of concussion. However, parental investment in child sport achievement might impede this communication. Purpose. To examine the relationship between perceived threat of concussion and parent–child communication regarding concussion symptom reporting, and the potential interaction with parental pressure regarding child sport achievement. Method. A total of 236 parents of youth soccer players completed an anonymous online survey. Results. There were greater odds of encouraging concussion reporting among parents who perceived that their child had a greater likelihood of sustaining a concussion (OR = 1.03, 95% CI [1.01, 1.04]) and lower odds among parents who exhibited greater parental sport pressure (OR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.78, 0.99]). Parents whose child had a prior concussion were much more likely to communicate with their child about concussion reporting (OR = 7.86, 95% CI [3.00, 20.55]). Conclusion. Initiatives are needed to support healthy sport parenting, particularly focusing on parental encouragement of concussion reporting. Possible directions for concussion education for parents based on the results of this study include providing parents with concrete guidance about the important role they can play in encouraging their child to report symptoms of a concussion, communicating the athletic consequences of continued sport involvement while experiencing symptoms of a concussion, and using narrative messaging with exemplars to personalize the information for parents of youth who have not previously sustained a concussion.

Other-Initiated Motivational Climate and Youth Hockey Players’ Good and Poor Sport Behaviors

This studys purpose was to simultaneously examine the relationships between perceived coach-, peer-, and parent-initiated motivational climate and youth hockey players’ good and poor sport behavior (GPSB). Participants (N = 243) represented PeeWee, Bantam, and Midget hockey levels (11–17 years old). Hierarchical regression showed that hockey players’ goal orientations, perceived ability, and other-initiated motivational climate explained 22.6% (PeeWee) and 18.5% (Bantam/Midget) of the variance in Poor Sport Behavior while explaining 27.1% (PeeWee) and 34.6% (Bantam/Midget) of the variance in good sport behavior. Results provide perspective for how influential the social environment is to both GPSBs in youth hockey.

The Impact of a Recess-Based Leadership Program on Urban Elementary School Students

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a peer-leadership training program on youth from a low-income urban school district. The methodological approach was grounded in community-based participatory research, in which a multicomponent school-based recess and physical activity program was examined. Data included 15 focus groups conducted with 77 fourth- and fifth-grade participants and semistructured interviews with 13 adult leaders. Results of a thematic content analysis suggest that decisions to join the program, role expectations, and training received impacted leadership development, personal development, and transfer of skills to other domains.

Development of the great recess framework – observational tool to measure contextual and behavioral components of elementary school recess

BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) remains the primary behavioral outcome associated with school recess, while many other potentially relevant indicators of recess remain unexamined. Few studies have assessed observations of teacher/student interactions, peer conflict, social interactions, or safety within the recess environment. Furthermore, a psychometrically-sound instrument does not exist to examine safety, resources, student engagement, adult engagement, pro-social/anti-social behavior, and student empowerment on the playground. The purpose of the current study was to develop a valid, and reliable, assessment tool intended for use in measurement of the contextual factors associated with recess.MethodsAn iterative and multi-step process was used to develop a tool that measures safety and structure, adult engagement and supervision, student behaviors, and transitions at recess. Exploratory structural equation modeling (Mplus v. 7.4) was used to examine the underlying measurement model with observational data of the recess environment collected at 649 school-based recess periods that spanned across 22 urban/metropolitan areas in the USA. Data were also collected by two researchers at 162 recess sessions across 9 schools to examine reliability.ResultsA 17-item observation instrument, the Great Recess Framework – Observational Tool (GRF-OT), was created. Findings of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analyses supported factorial validity for a 4-factor solution and linear regressions established convergent validity where ‘structure and safety’, ‘adult engagement and supervision’, and ‘student behaviors’ were all significantly related to observed activity levels. Each sub-scale of the GRF-OT showed adequate levels of inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability analysis indicated a higher level of stability for the GRF-OT when using a three-day average across two time points as compared to a two-day average.ConclusionsInitial evidence for a valid, and reliable, assessment tool to observationally measure the recess environment with a specific focus on safety, resources, student engagement, adult engagement, pro-social/anti-social behavior, and student empowerment was established in this study. Use of the GRF-OT can inspire evaluation, and subsequent intervention, to strategically create consistent, appropriate, and engaging school recess that impact children’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.

Pictorial Playground-based Physical Activity Assessment Instrument: Uses and Applications of the ADL-PP

Comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs) are designed to support children in getting 60 minutes of daily physical activity, as well as meet SHAPE Americas goal of developing physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime. The Activities for Daily Living – Playground Play (ADL-PP) is introduced in this article as a means to help physical education teachers and CSPAP leaders support children in meeting such goals. The ADL-PP is a pictorially based, valid and reliable instrument designed to assess childrens playground-based activity behavior. The benefits, uses and applications of this instrument are introduced and described in this article. Particular attention is given to how the ADL-PP aligns with the National Standards, providing a simple, inexpensive method to help increase and document discretionary-time physical activity, as well as promote learning across the psychomotor, cognitive and affective domains.

Evidence-Based Strategies for Socially, Emotionally and Physically Beneficial School Recess.

Health and education disparities continue to persist in low-income communities, and in communities with a high proportion of racial and ethnic minorities. Despite recess being a main contributor to childrens school-based physical activity (PA), children in the aforementioned communities have less access to recess opportunities. The purpose of this article is to present evidence-based strategies and underlying critical success factors for school-based recess implementation that can be used by health and education professionals to increase PA opportunities in urban elementary schools. A brief overview of recess programs is provided, with a specific focus on Playworks — a national non-profit organization focused on providing safe and engaging recess for children. A program evaluation of the Playworks program was conducted through 15 focus groups and 13 semi-structured interviews. Data from a content analysis was used to identify strategies and critical success factors for recess implementation. These strategies are discussed, with implications for health and education professionals.