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Testing a physical education-delivered autonomy supportive intervention to promote leisure-time physical activity in lower secondary school students: The PETALS trial

Schneider, Jekaterina; Polet, Juho; Hassandra, Mary; Lintunen, Taru; Laukkanen, Arto; Hankonen, Nelli; Hirvensalo, Mirja; Tammelin, Tuija H.; Törmäkangas, Timo; Hagger, Martin S.

Testing a physical education-delivered autonomy supportive intervention to promote leisure-time physical activity in lower secondary school students: The PETALS trial Thumbnail


Authors

Jekaterina Schneider

Juho Polet

Mary Hassandra

Taru Lintunen

Arto Laukkanen

Nelli Hankonen

Mirja Hirvensalo

Tuija H. Tammelin

Timo Törmäkangas

Martin S. Hagger



Abstract

© 2020 The Author(s). Background: Inadequate physical activity in young people is associated with several physical and mental health concerns. Physical education (PE) is a potentially viable existing network for promoting physical activity in this population. However, little research has been conducted on whether PE teachers can influence students' engagement in leisure-time physical activity. The present study therefore examined the efficacy of an intervention aimed at increasing PE teachers' autonomy support on students' leisure-time physical activity (the PETALS trial). The intervention was guided by the trans-contextual model (TCM) explaining the processes by which PE teachers' provision of autonomy support during PE promotes students' motivation and engagement in physical activity in their leisure time. Methods: The study adopted a cluster-randomized, waitlist control intervention design with randomization by school. Participants were PE teachers (N = 29, 44.83%female; M age = 42.83, SD = 9.53 yrs) and their lower secondary school students (N = 502, 43.82%female; M age = 14.52, SD = 0.71 yrs). We measured TCM constructs, including perceived autonomy support, autonomous motivation in PE and leisure time, beliefs and intentions towards leisure-time physical activity, and physical activity behavior at baseline, post-intervention, and at one-, three-, and six-months. Study hypotheses were tested through a series of ANOVAs and structural equation models using post-intervention and one-month follow-up data. Results: We found no changes in TCM constructs or physical activity behavior in either group at post-intervention or at 1 month. Path analyses supported two propositions of the TCM as change variables: perceived autonomy support had a significant effect on autonomous motivation in PE and autonomous motivation in PE had a significant effect on autonomous motivation in leisure time. Although we found a direct effect of autonomous motivation in leisure time on physical activity, we did not find support for the third premise of the TCM that autonomous motivation in leisure time indirectly affects physical activity through beliefs and intentions. Conclusions: Current findings did not support the efficacy of the PETALS intervention at changing physical activity behavior and TCM constructs. More research is required to determine whether the TCM predictive validity is supported when other model variables are manipulated through experimental and intervention studies. Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN39374060. Registered 19 July 2018. Prospectively registered.

Citation

Schneider, J., Polet, J., Hassandra, M., Lintunen, T., Laukkanen, A., Hankonen, N., …Hagger, M. S. (2020). Testing a physical education-delivered autonomy supportive intervention to promote leisure-time physical activity in lower secondary school students: The PETALS trial. BMC Public Health, 20(1), Article 1438. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09518-3

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 8, 2020
Online Publication Date Sep 22, 2020
Publication Date Sep 22, 2020
Deposit Date Jan 4, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 30, 2024
Journal BMC Public Health
Electronic ISSN 1471-2458
Publisher BioMed Central
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 20
Issue 1
Article Number 1438
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09518-3
Keywords Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6969423
Additional Information Received: 17 June 2020; Accepted: 8 September 2020; First Online: 22 September 2020; : The study followed the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the research ethics committee of the University of Jyväskylä (ref no. 2017/12/13). Written informed consent was obtained from participating teachers, students, and students’ parents prior to the commencement of the trial. All participants were informed that they were allowed to withdraw from the study at any time without prejudice, and have their data deleted. During the study, all travel and activities of research staff and participating teachers were covered by accident insurance.; : Not applicable.; : The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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