Program Evaluation of an In-school Daily Physical Activity Initiative

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The school system is one setting in which children's physical activity levels may be increased through daily physical activity (DPA) policies and initiatives. Adherence to DPA policies is typically poor and results are limited in regard to the associated benefits for participating children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate a range of psychosocial outcomes following a community-led, in-school DPA initiative for 9-14 year old children and youth. This program evaluation examined the impact of a DPA program consisting of 20 minutes of teacher-led DPA for 20 consecutive weeks. Student outcomes were measured using a questionnaire administered at three time points: baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention. A teacher questionnaire regarding program adherence and student behaviour was completed at post-intervention.

Official Title
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A Program Evaluation of an In-school Daily Physical Activity Initiative for Children and Youth

Conditions
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Physical Activity, Children, Only

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Daily physical activity intervention


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Participants will include males and females between the ages of 9-14. Participants must be enrolled in one of 30 elementary school classes across the participating seven elementary schools. Participants need to be able to read and write in English Exclusion Criteria: Participants not enrolled in one of the participating classes. Unable to read and write in English.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 9 Years
Maximum Age: 14 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Daily physical activity intervention<br>The intervention consisted of a DPA program designed by a national organization with expertise in school-based physical activity programming and delivered in school by teachers. The program was offered to students in grades 4 through 8 and consisted of 20 minutes of structured DPA in school for 20 consecutive weeks. The DPA activities included jumping jacks, squats, running and other body weight exercises. | Behavioral: Daily physical activity intervention<br> <br> |
| No Intervention: Control - treatment as usual<br>Participants in control classes completed regular school activities as per the Ontario curriculum. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in self-esteem from baseline to 20-weeks | Measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. This is a 10-item measure that has shown to have good construct validity in children. The scale is scored on a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (Strongly Disagree) to 3 (Strongly Agree). An example item is On the whole, I am satisfied with myself. Items 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 are reverse scored. The scores for the 10 items are then summed, with higher scores indicating higher self-esteem. | Change from baseline to 20-weeks | 
| Change in grit from baseline to 20-weeks | Assessed with the 8-item Short Grit Scale for Children. The items are scored on a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (Not at all like me) to 5 (Very much like me). An example item is New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones. Items 1,3,5,6 were reversed scored and all items were summed with higher scores indicating better results. | Change from baseline to 20-weeks | 
| Change in Global Happiness from baseline to 20-weeks | Measured using the 4-item Subjective Happiness Scale. The scale is scored on a seven-point Likert-type scale. Each item has its own stem and anchors ranging from 1 to 7. An example item stem is In general I consider myself… with 1 anchored as Not a very happy person and 7 anchored as A very happy person. The scale has demonstrated good psychometric properties in children and adolescents. The sum of scores is divided by four with a higher score indicating a greater level of happiness. | Change from baseline to 20-weeks | 
| Change in Commitment to School from baseline to 20-weeks | Assessed with 5 items drawn from the 10-item Commitment to School scale. The scale consists of 10-items scored on a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree). A subset of five-items was selected, scored on a five-point Likert-type ranging from 1 (Not at all true for me) to 5 (Really true for me). An example item is You try really hard at school. The 5 items were summed with higher score indicating greater commitment to school. | Change from baseline to 20-weeks | 
| Change in Sense of Belonging at School from baseline to 20-weeks | Measured using the 5-item short form version of the Sense of Belonging Scale. An example item is I feel comfortable at my school. Two items were reverse scored, and the items were summed with higher scores indicating a greater sense of belonging at school. | Change from baseline to 20-weeks | 
| Change in Physical Activity from baseline to 20-weeks | Assessed with the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C). The PAQ-C was designed for children in grades 4-8 who have recess as a regular part of their school week. The PAQ-C is a 9-item 7-day recall instrument that has been shown to have good psychometric properties. We omitted the first item from this questionnaire because it asked about the types of physical activity performed, and we were interested only in overall levels of participation. An example item is In the last 7 days, what did you do most of the time at recess? The items were averaged together to generate a total score, with higher scores indicating higher levels of participation in physical activity. | Change from baseline to 20-weeks | 
| Change in Self-efficacy from baseline to 20-weeks | Self-efficacy for engaging in physical activity, sports, and active play was assessed using a three-item scale adhering to recommendations by Bandura for assessing self-efficacy. Each item was prefaced with the stem I am confident in my ability to engage in… The individual items were Physical activity (e.g., running, yoga, skating), Sports (e.g., soccer, baseball, ultimate Frisbee), and Activity play (e.g., playing with friends at recess or after school). Following guidelines provided by Bandura, participants rated their confidence for each item using an 11-point scale (0=not confident, 10=totally confident). A generalized task self-efficacy overall score was computed by averaging the ratings for each item to produce a scale value out of 10. Higher scores indicate more favorable self-efficacy. | Change from baseline to 20-weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Intervention adherence | Assessed by teacher questionnaire: On average, how many days per week did your students participate in the program?. A higher score indicates greater adherence. | 20-weeks | 
| Perceived student behavior | Assessed by teacher questionnaire on a 10-point scale from No improvement to A great deal of improvement. Questions were averaged and higher scores indicated greater perceived student behavior. | 20-weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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intervention, health policy, psychosocial health, education