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Abstract
Extra-curricular physical activity (ECPA) may have an important role to play in the health and well-being of adolescents, but the actual benefits are relatively unknown. This study examined ECPA participation amongst adolescent males (age 12–15 years) from disadvantaged backgrounds, and evaluated its impact on overall physical activity (PA) accumulation and psychological well-being. At three time points over a single academic year, participants from four schools (n = 174) wore a pedometer for seven days and completed a questionnaire assessing habitual PA, frequency of ECPA participation, barriers to ECPA participation and seven psychosocial subscales. An average year-long score was calculated for each participant, for each variable. Across seasons, 84% of participants reported regular (≥ twice a week) or occasional (once a week) participation in ECPA. Those reporting regular participation in ECPA were significantly (p < .01) more active (steps/day) and scored higher (p < .01) on each psychosocial subscale. Results of multinomial regression analysis showed that perceived physical competence (p < .001) had a significant main effect on ECPA participation. Our study results indicate that students from disadvantaged backgrounds whom participate in ECPA at least once a week are significantly more physically active and have a higher level of psychological well-being than those who never participate.
Introduction
In a 2006 review, Hallal et al. (2006) identified four distinct categories of health benefits of adolescent physical activity (PA) participation: the tracking of PA from adolescence to adulthood, the direct influence of adolescent PA on adult morbidity (including long-term benefits on bone health, breast cancer and sedentary behaviours), the role of PA in treating adolescent morbidity (including asthma and cystic fibrosis) and the short-term benefits of PA in adolescence on health (strongest evidence for bone and mineral health). Similarly, Janssen and Leblanc (2010), in a systematic review, pointed to the positive effect of PA participation on six health outcomes in school-aged children and youth: cholesterol, depression, blood pressure, bone density, obesity and metabolic syndrome. Consistent with Irish and international PA guidelines (Department of Health and Children of Ireland, 2009; World Health Organisation, 2010), and based on a review by Janssen and Leblanc (2010), the authors support the recommendation of children and young people accumulating an average of at least 60 min/day of at least moderate-intensity PA for health. Despite this and other documented evidence for the health benefits of PA, many adolescents (over 80% of 13–15 year olds) do not meet that 60-min/day recommendation (Hallal et al., 2012).
Physical education (PE), extra-curricular physical activity (ECPA), and extra-school sport are considered the three major pillars of PA for young people (Fahey et al, 2005; Woods et al., 2010). PE is generally provided as part of the school curriculum. ECPA refers to the provision of activities by the school outside of the formal PE curriculum, most often before or after school and at lunch times, but also in some schools at weekends (Penney and Harris, 1997). Extra-school sport opportunities are those provided by agencies external to the school system (Lunn et al., 2007). Bocarro et al. (2008) highlight the importance of these pillars in supporting the role of PE, and facilitating pathways to PA outside of school. ECPA is often a central focus of the life and identity of schools (Fahey et al., 2005), and as such, can significantly influence the PA habits of young people, be it in a positive or negative fashion. The findings of Fahey et al. (2005) show that ECPA and extra-school sport are equally important as outlets for PA among Irish young people aged 10–18 years, and that both offer a much greater opportunity for PA participation than school PE while back to classes; while most young people are offered PE at school once a week at best, it is possible for them to participate in sport outside of the school curriculum on a daily basis. A study by Curtis et al. (1999) demonstrated the importance of ECPA involvement for children, showing that high school sport involvement was a strong predictor of adult sport involvement. The findings of Woods et al. (2010) showed that 73% of Irish post-primary school students (age 12–18 years) participate in ECPA at least one day/week.
In a study of adolescents 15–16 years of age living in England (Smith et al., 2007), it was found that nearly everyone participated in ECPA at least one day/week. Furthermore, La Torre et al. (2006) found that 71% of Spanish adolescents (11–17 years) reportedly engaged in ECPA for at least one hour/week. The findings of De Meester et al. (2014) offer some interesting insights into the importance of ECPA participation in youth. This study of children aged 9–13 years (n = 1049) in Belgium found that 76% of children reported participating in ECPA during the school year, with 32% reporting to participate for > one hour/week. Interestingly, 65% of the children in this study (De Meester et al., 2014) who had reported not to participate in community-based sports (extra-school sport), reported that they do participate in ECPA. In addition, De Meester et al. (2014) report that children who participated in ECPA were significantly more active overall than those who did not participate in ECPA.
Similar to in the USA (Curtner-Smith et al., 2007), ECPA in Irish schools is most often not considered an extension of the curriculum. The goals of ECPA are generally not educational, and depending on the school and sport in question, may have an exclusively competitive or participatory focus or indeed a mixture. The findings of Curtner-Smith et al. (2007) show that teachers coaching extra-curricular basketball sessions engaged students in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) for 50.47% of their practice sessions. The authors concluded that ECPA is a potentially good medium for enhancing students’ health. While claims for the health benefits of participation in ECPA, and its contribution to overall PA, have been made by teachers/coaches facilitating the activities (Curtner-Smith et al., 2007), the authors acknowledge that very little is actually known about how much or how little ECPA contributes to young peoples’ health. Silva et al. (2010) found that in a sample of 12–18 year-old Portuguese children, participation in ECPA increased the likelihood of achieving PA guidelines. Ara et al. (2006) found that Spanish boys (9.47 ± 1.4 years) who accumulated at least three hours/week of ECPA were more protected against total and regional fat mass accumulation; however, it must be noted that in the Ara et al. (2006) study although the term ECPA was used, it would seem to have included all sport participation outside of the school environment and thus, it was a combination of ECPA and extra-school sport.
Participation in habitual PA has consistently been associated (as both correlates and determinants, depending on the variable) with a range of psychological variables for both adults and young people (Bauman et al., 2012). A recent study (Belton et al., 2014) demonstrated an association between PA level and self-efficacy, attitude towards PA, and perceived barriers and benefits of PA in a population of 12–14 year-old Irish youth. While the link between PA and psychological factors has been examined, less is known about the specific impact of participation in ECPA on psychological well-being. Research carried out by Fredericks and Eccles (2006) highlights the potential psychological benefit of participation in extra-curricular activities more broadly (but including ECPA), with adolescent participation predictive of academic adjustment, psychological adjustment, educational status and civic engagement. This is relatively consistent with the earlier study by Barber et al. (2001), who found that participation in sports (both extra-curricular and extra-school) at Grade 10 (age not reported, but we estimate 15–16 years old) predicted positive educational and occupational outcomes, and lower levels of social isolation six years later. Similarly, in a study by Broh (2002) participation in interscholastic sports (one specific type of ECPA) was shown to promote student development and social ties among students, parents and schools and also, to boost students’ achievement in the classroom and on standardised maths tests.
While it has been shown that young people from families of high Socio Economic Status (SES) are more likely to participate in ECPA (La Torre et al., 2006), and that children in rural disadvantaged schools may have fewer opportunities for participation in ECPA (Edwards et al., 2011), little is known about the extent of ECPA participation of disadvantaged youth in urban areas and the contribution of this participation to overall PA accumulation, and to psychological well-being. The aim of the present study was to examine ECPA participation amongst Irish post-primary males (aged 12–15 years) from disadvantaged backgrounds and to evaluate the potential association between participating in ECPA and overall PA accumulation, and psychological well-being.
Methods
Participants and recruitment
Our study participants were 174 male students (mean age of 13.59 ± .91 years) from a convenience sample of four male single-sex Department of Education designated schools at an educational disadvantage (DEIS), due to low socioeconomic status within the catchment area, from the geographical catchment area of Dublin city. All four schools that were contacted consented to participation.
The breakdown of the participant sample by school was as follows. There were 39 from School 1 (22%), 31 from School 2 (18%), 39 from School 3 (22%) and 65 from School 4 (38%). Informed assent and consent were sought from all students and their parents through the school PE teacher, prior to data collection. All participants were free to withdraw from participation in the research at any stage. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the institutional Research Ethics Committee.
Procedures
Data were collected in this study using pedometry and a self-reporting questionnaire. In order to capture potential seasonal differences, data were collected using the measures detailed below, at three separate time intervals throughout a single academic year: autumn (Time 1: September 2010), winter (Time 2: January 2011) and spring (Time 3: May 2011).
The questionnaire used in this study was a multi-section instrument that involved a combination of well-known, valid and reliable self-reported measures, as well as researcher-developed questions. Habitual PA was assessed using two questions taken from the Patient-Centered Assessment and Counseling for Exercise Plus Nutrition (PACE+) questionnaire (Prochaska et al., 2001), which were recently validated amongst adolescents (Ridgers et al., 2012) for the number of days during the past week and for a typical week, that participants accumulated >60 minutes of MVPA. A composite average of the two items provided a score of days per week that the adolescents had accumulated 60 minutes of MVPA (possible range, 0–7 days).
The next section of the questionnaire focused on ECPA participation. For the purpose of this study, ECPA was described for the participants as school-based activities provided ‘outside of the formal PE curriculum, most often after school and at lunch times, but also in some schools, at weekends and/or before school’ (Penney and Harris, 1997). Two researchers developed questions that assessed the students’ frequency of participation in ECPA:
Q1: ‘Do you take part in ECPA at school?’ Answers: Regularly, Sometimes or Never; and
Q2: ‘In the last seven days, on how many days right after school did you do ECPA (e.g. sports, dance, play games)?’ Answers: None, 1 day, 2–3 days, 4 days or 5 days.
Q2 responses were then categorised into never participating, participating once a week (sometimes) and participating twice or more per week (regularly). These questions were based on those used in two previous studies (Fahey et al., 2005; Woods et al., 2009).
A third question (Q3) investigated the barriers to ECPA participation for those students who reported never participating in ECPA. While a significant number of barrier questionnaires exist, none address the specific focus of participating purely in ECPA. Therefore, following an analysis of the most commonly cited barriers in a recent Irish qualitative study (Tannehill et al., 2013), the following three structured and one open-ended options were considered suitable for addressing the barriers to ECPA with the current cohort, and were used in this questionnaire: ‘I don’t enjoy PA’, ‘I’m too lazy’, ‘I don’t think I’m good enough’ and an ‘other’ open-ended option for a different reason they wished to report.
The final section of the questionnaire used the 39 items of the Youth Physical Activity Promotion (YPAP) model based questionnaire, validated by Rowe at al. (2007), to measure various psychosocial variables:
Physical self-worth (PSW), with six items and a score range of 6–24;
Perceived physical competence (PPC), with seven items and a score range of 7–28;
Liking of games and sports (LGS), with five items and a score range of 5–20;
Fun of physical exertion (FPE), with five items and a score range of 5–20;
Liking of vigorous exercise (LVE), with five items and a score range of 5–20;
Peer acceptance (PAC), with five items and a score range of 5–20; and
Parental encouragement (PEN), with six items and a score range of 6–24.
These psychological variables were tested for internal consistency and reliability, using Cronbach Alpha (α). Six out of the seven YPAP subscales were above the 0.7 criterion for good reliability, with LVE being the only subscale to fall below (α = 0.55); however, given the sample size and the previous reported consistency of this subscale (Rowe et al., 2007), LVE was deemed acceptably reliable.
Questionnaires were completed in school, with a ratio of one researcher to 15 participants. An example of a question from the YPAP questionnaire under the subscale of PSW is: ‘Some students are proud of themselves physically BUT Other students don’t have much to be proud about physically’ Students were asked to decide which side of the statement was most true for them, and for whichever side they picked, to indicate if it is ‘Really True for me’ or ‘Sort of true for me’.
Objective PA data were collected using a Yamax Digiwalker SW200 pedometer (with a tamper-proof cover), worn for a period of seven days. The daily step count (from Friday to Thursday) was recorded by each student in a pedometer diary each evening before going to bed, with the pedometer then being re-set for the next day (Belton et al., 2010). Though it is well recognised that accelerometers provide important information regarding intensity of activity, it is accepted that pedometers offer a reasonable and robust method of collecting PA data in free-living samples, via a motion sensor, which is more cost effective and feasible for many studies (Craig et al., 2010). Pedometers have also been shown to have good agreement with PA measurement by accelerometry, with respect to total accumulated daily PA (r = 0.80–0.90) (Tudor-Locke et al., 2002). Many studies have been carried out to investigate the number of steps per day that children need to take, in order to meet the 60 minutes/day MVPA guideline (Tudor-Locke et al., 2011); however, only one study to date has looked at this for adolescents. Adams et al. (2009) found that overweight adolescents (11–16 years) who took at least 11,714 steps/day met the 60-minute MVPA guideline (considering a metabolic equivalent (MET) of a 4-MET threshold for MVPA). Applying this threshold has some obvious limitations, however, including the small sample size employed in the Adams et al. (2009) study (n = 40), a 70% female sample, and the fact that the population involved in that study were all overweight. Tudor-Locke et al. (2011) report that 60 minutes of MVPA in primary or elementary school male students appears to be achieved, on average, with a total volume of 13,000 to 15,000 steps/day. As such, the threshold of 13,000 (Rowlands and Eston, 2005) was also employed in the current study.
Data processing and analysis
The pedometer distribution and collection days were omitted from analysis, to allow for subject reactivity (Esliger et al., 2005) and the variability of pedometer distribution times. Average overall daily, weekday and weekend day step counts were then calculated using the remaining five days; a minimum of five days’ data was required for inclusion. Two separate pedometer 60-minute MVPA thresholds were applied to the overall daily step count: 11,714 steps/day (Adams et al., 2009) and 13,000 steps/day (Rowlands and Eston, 2005). A composite average of the ECPA questions one and two provided a score of the regularity of participation in ECPA (Regularly, Sometimes or Never), at each time point.
The YPAP scores from each individual psychosocial subscale, e.g. physical self-worth (PSW), were coded according to instrument guidelines, as some items required reverse coding, and were totalled for each time point by summing together the scores for each individual item within that subscale, with higher scores indicating a more favourable result for the subscale in question.
All data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0, with alpha set at p < .05. For all variables, descriptive statistics were calculated for each time point initially. As seasonal variation was low, the decision was then taken to combine the data from the three time points to provide an average year-long score; this allowed us to maximize our sample and investigate the associations between the variables of interest, on average, across the year. An individual was required to have full data from at least two of the three time points for a particular variable to have a year-long score included in the analysis.
To determine seasonal differences in step counts and self-reported PA participation, one-way analyses of variances (ANOVAs) were used, with the time of year (autumn, winter and spring) as the factor. To determine whether participants were more likely to report participating in ECPAs (never, sometimes, or always) at one time of the year than another, we used a Chi Square test for independence. Also, the one-way ANOVAs (with Tukey post-hoc comparisons) were used to investigate differences in step count and self-reported PA, across the three ECPA participation categories. A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted across the three time points on each of the seven YPAP subscales, to investigate change over time.
Bivariate correlations were carried out to examine the relationships between the year-long variables: step count, self-reported PA, ECPA and the seven YPAP subscales scores. These were all Pearson correlations, with the exception of ECPA which employed Spearman correlations, due to the categorical nature of the data. To investigate which psychological variables were associated with ECPA participation, a multinomial regression analysis was carried out with ECPA participation as the dependent variable (with ‘never’ as the reference category) and all seven psychosocial variables as the predictors.
Results
The participant retention rate over the duration of the study was high, with 98% of Time 1 participants involved at Time 2, and 89% of Time 2 participants engaged at Time 3. In terms of inclusion in the year-long analysis, 98 participants had full step count data over at least two time periods, while 169 participants had questionnaire data over at least two time periods. Descriptive statistics for year-long step count, self-reported PA and the seven psychosocial subscales are given in Table 1.
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Table 1 Descriptive statistics (Mean (SD)) for step count, self-report of PA, and psychosocial subscales both year-long and by ECPA participation category.
Participants were significantly more active (p < .05) during the spring period (12,644.77 ± 3385 steps/day) than during the autumn (11,171.44 ± 3964 steps/day) or the winter (11,685 ± 3211 steps/day) periods. No significant difference was observed between the yearly average weekday (12,043.28 ± 3561) and weekend (11,781.51 ± 3844) step counts. When the 11,714 steps/day threshold was applied to overall average pedometer data, it was found that 44% of the sample met the 60 minute/day MVPA guideline. When the 13,000 steps/day threshold was applied, the percentage of students meeting the 60-minute guideline fell to 28%. When we considered self-reported PA data, we found that participants reported engaging in ≥60 minutes of MVPA on an average of 4.98 ± 1.21 days/week over the year. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences in the days/week, across the three time points.
On average over the three time points, 43% of participants reported that they regularly (≥twice/week) participated in ECPA, 41% reported to sometimes (once/week) participate and 16% reported to never participate. A chi Square test for independence indicated no significant association between the time of year and ECPA participation, with χ2 (1) = 2.22; p = .69 and phi = .07. Perceived physical competence was the most frequent reason given for lack of engagement in ECPA by those who reported to never participate: ‘I don’t think I’m good enough’ (56%). Laziness was the second most common reason reported for ‘never’ engaging in ECPA (20%) while lack of enjoyment was the third most common reason given (13%).
As is shown in Table 1, a one-way ANOVA revealed a significant group difference in step count among the three categories of ECPA participation (Regularly, Sometimes and Never) (F(2,95) = 14.56; p < .01). Post-hoc Tukey tests revealed that those who ‘regularly’ participated in ECPA had a significantly higher mean daily step count (13,821 ± 3546) than those who only ‘sometimes’ participated (11,181 ± 2611) or ‘never’ participated (9,312 ± 2551). A similar significant between-group difference was observed with the self-reported PA (F(2,167) = 23.0; p < .01). Post-hoc analysis revealed that the students who ‘never’ participated in ECPA had a significantly lower mean number of days/week meeting the 60-minute MVPA guideline (3.85 ± 1.33) than those who ‘sometimes’ participated (4.89 ± 1.07) or ‘regularly’ participated (5.49 ± .98).
The results of correlation analysis are shown in Table 2. All of the correlations were of modest strength and significant at p < .01. ECPA demonstrated a higher correlation than self-reported PA, or step count, with all seven of the subscales. A series of one-way ANOVAs were used to compare the scores for each psychosocial subscale across the three ECPA participation categories (Regularly, Sometimes or Never); these are shown in Table 1. Results were significant at p < .01 in each case, with a post-hoc analysis confirming that those that students who ‘never’ participated in ECPA scored significantly lower on each of the seven subscales than those who ‘sometimes’ or ‘regularly’ participated, and those who ‘sometimes’ participated scored significantly lower than those who ‘regularly’ participated.
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Table 2 Pearson correlations between behavioural outcomes and YPAP subscales.
Results of our multinomial regression analysis showed that the model fit was significant (χ2 (14) = 103.799; p < .001), with both high Pearson (.948) and deviance (1.00) values. Results of the Likelihood Ratio Tests indicated that only perceived physical competence had a significant main effect on ECPA participation (χ2 (2) = 18.826; p < .001). Parameter estimates indicated that perceived physical competence was significantly associated with whether a participant ‘Never’ or ‘Sometimes’ participated in ECPA (b = .418; Wald χ2 (1) = 4.222; p = 0.04), with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.519, and whether they ‘Never’ or ‘Regularly’ participated in ECPA (b = .853; Wald χ2 (1) = 13.131; p < .001) with an OR of 2.346. The classification value indicated that the model was 64.3% accurate.
Discussion
Data from this study showed year-long participation levels in ECPA for this group of male students to be high (84% at least once a week), with 43% of the students reporting that they participate in ECPA on a regular basis throughout the school year (>2 times/week), but 16% reporting to never participate. Similarly, the ‘Young people and sport in England’ survey (Sport England, 2003) had found that 72% of post-primary students are participating in ECPA at least one time/week; however, a study in Wales (Sports Council Wales, 2009) found that only 47% of post-primary students were participating in ECPA at least one time/week. This is consistent with the findings of De Meester et al. (2014), who demonstrated that just 32% of 11-year-old Flemish children participate in at least one hour of ECPA per week.
The findings of the current study are consistent with previous Irish research, with the Fahey et al. (2005) study also showing that 16% of post-primary male students reported to never participate in ECPA and with Woods et al. (2010) reporting that 11% of post-primary males never participate in ECPA. The 5% difference between the current study and that of Woods et al. (2010) may be in part explained by the focus of the current study on adolescents in disadvantaged schools, with research showing that children from families of low SES are less likely to participate in ECPA (La Torre et al., 2006).
Those students who reported to ‘regularly’ participate in ECPA had a significantly higher mean daily step count than those who only ‘sometimes’ participated, or ‘never’ participated and those who ‘never’ participated in ECPA had a significantly lower mean number of days/week meeting the 60-minute MVPA guideline than those who ‘sometimes’ or ‘regularly’ participated. This is consistent to an extent with other recent studies that show that being involved in ECPA increases the likelihood of adolescents meeting the recommended daily PA guidelines (Silva et al., 2010; Woods et al., 2010). While results may seem to, in part, support the hypothesis of Curtner-Smith et al. (2007) that pupils who take part in ECPA are those who are already relatively active, and that those who do not get involved are those who are relatively inactive, causality cannot be inferred. It is equally plausible that those who are more active are so as a result of their ECPA participation. Further research is warranted to investigate the relationship between these two variables. In any event it is reasonable to state, based on this finding, that ECPA is an important opportunity for PA for these male youth, with potential implications in terms of meeting the PA guidelines.
The results of this study show that higher levels of ECPA participation correlate moderately with better psychological well-being. The significant correlation observed over the academic year between participation in ECPA on a regular basis and a child’s psychological well-being was relatively consistent across all seven psychological subscales (Spearman rho range: .429 to .670; for physical self-worth, perceived physical competence, liking of games and sports, fun of physical exertion, liking of vigorous activity, peer acceptance and parental encouragement). This suggested that male adolescents who participate in ECPA have a more positive evaluation of factors that may affect their psychological well-being than those who do not participate.
The results of the multinomial regression analysis showed that of the psychological variables measured, only perceived physical competence was identified as an independent factor associated with ECPA participation. The ORs indicated that as the students’ perceived physical competence increases by one unit, the odds of a participant ‘sometimes’ participating in ECPA, rather than ‘never’, increased by 1.519 and the odds of them ‘regularly’ participating rather than ‘never’ increased by 2.346. Perceived physical competence was also previously identified as extremely important in maintaining involvement in PA (Bandura, 1997; Horn and Harris, 2002), with studies showing that perceived physical competence is highest in adolescents who are the most physically active (Inchley et al., 2011; Paxton et al., 2008; Telama, 2005), and that the link between perceived competence and positive PA behaviour is most pronounced in adolescence (Telama, 2005; Woods et al., 2010). This may suggest that many adolescent males need to feel that they are physically competent in order to participate, which may in turn be an indication that ECPA has its main focus on competition in these particular schools and thus, caters best to students with a greater perceived competence. In line with other researchers (Fahey et al., 2005; Woods et al., 2010), we would support the need for schools to ensure that both participatory, as well as competitive, pathways to sport be provided to cater to the broad range of students’ perceived and actual competencies.
Finally, it is interesting to consider the data in this study more broadly, in terms of overall PA participation levels of the cohort. Considering the two step count thresholds that we used (Adams et al., 2009; Rowlands and Eston, 2005), we can estimate that between 28% and 44% of the sample of 12–15 year-old males met the 60 minute/day MVPA guideline. These figures compare reasonably well with those reported in the recent Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study (Currie et al., 2012) of 36% of 13 year-old and 28% of 15 year-old Irish males meeting the guidelines; however, it is of note that the figures are higher than the corresponding overall averages across all countries surveyed in the HBSC study (Currie et al., 2012) of 24% of 13 year-old males and 19% of 15 year-old males. It is clear from the findings of this and the previously mentioned studies that the majority of male adolescents in Ireland are not participating in sufficient PA to benefit their current and future health, and as many studies have advocated (Belton et al., 2014; Harrington et al., 2014; Woods et al., 2010), careful attention needs to be paid to the adolescent cohort, to try to improve these levels.
The findings of this study confirm that ECPA is an important pillar for adolescent PA (Fahey et al., 2005; Woods et al., 2010), and that it is positively associated with both overall PA accumulation and perceived physical competence. We would recommend that future research confirm these findings across a broader and more diverse geographical cohort, across genders, and across a greater age range.
Strengths and limitations
The strengths of the current study include the collection of data across different times of the school year and the use of objective monitors to measure physical activity, though it was not possible to isolate step counts for the specific ECPA periods, as the pedometers did not store time-stamped data. Limitations include the sample size, which may limit the generalizability of findings, the fact that causality cannot be inferred, and the fact that findings are delimited to male participants from disadvantaged schools. In addition, the elements of the questionnaire that focused on ECPA (three items) were researcher-developed, and as such have not yet been validated. Due to various reasons (including pedometer loss, non-wear and no recording of steps), only 98 out of the sample of 177 participants had sufficient pedometer data for inclusion in the analysis, which was a limitation of the study. Finally, though we found no seasonal differences in ECPA participation in this study, the generalisation of ECPA participation from two to three separate weeks of measurement to represent ‘regular’ participation is considered a limitation.
Conclusions
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds who participate in ECPA are significantly more physically active and have a higher level of psychosocial well-being than those students who never participate. Further research is warranted to confirm these findings in both a larger and more representative sample.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Author biographies
Sarahjane Belton is a Lecturer in Physical Education at the School of Health and Human Performance in Dublin City University.
Paul Prior is a second level physical education teacher at Moyne Community School.
Eric Wickel is an Associate Professor of Exercise and Sports Science in the College of Health Sciences at the University of Tulsa.
Catherine Woods is a Senior Lecturer in Exercise Psychology and Physical Activity for Health at the School of Health and Human Performance in Dublin City University.