Aims and design of the interventions

The interventions focused on different targets in the field of health promotion. On the health and fitness target level, interventions pursued the enhancement of cardiovascular health, the prevention of chronic diseases, the enhancement of fitness, the prevention of obesity and improvements of body composition, the prevention of back pain, positive influences on blood lipids and other medical parameters, and an increase in bone density and bone minerals. On the behaviour target level, interventions aimed at increasing physical activity levels. Finally, on the psychological determinants target level, interventions aimed to improve emotional satisfaction, attitudes towards physical activity and fitness, motivational climate in PE and during physical activity, and goal orientation and enjoyment during physical activity and PE.

In most cases (91 studies, 70.5%), the study sample consisted of children aged 6 to 12 years, and only 35 (27.1%) studies investigated adolescents aged 13 to 19. Three (2.3%) studies involved both children and adolescents. Seventy-three (56.6%) studies examined samples larger than 250 participants and 56 (43.4%) studies analysed samples smaller than 250.

Finally, 116 (89.9%) studies examined both sexes, 9 (7%) studies examined only girls, and 4 (3.1%) studies examined only boys.

Concerning the type of the intervention, 57 (44.2%) of the selected studies consisted of only a physical activity component, whereas 72 (55.8%) studies combined a physical activity and a cognitive component. The physical activity components spanned diverse strategies, such as providing modified PE lessons or additional PE (e.g., Bayne-Smith et al., 2004; Boyle-Holmes et al., 2010; Kain et al., 2004), enriching the material in PE (e.g., Vizcaino et al., 2008), or creating environments conducive to physical activity in the school setting (e.g., Ridgers, Fairclough, & Stratton, 2010).

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Chapter 3: Current Research

55 In terms of aspects related to time, there were 30 (23.3%) short-term studies and 34 (26.4%) long-term studies, with the majority of studies (65 studies; 50.4%) of intermediate duration.

Across interventions, the physical activity components were also administered at different frequencies. Most of the studies (42 Studies; 32.6%) administered the physical activity component daily, four (3.1%) studies did so four times per week, 21 (16.3%) studies did so three times per week, 23 (17.8%) studies did so twice per week, and 15 (11.6%) studies did so once per week. Twenty-four (18.6%) studies did not provide precise information on the frequency of the physical activity component.

The studies examined a wide variety of outcome variables (see Table 6). On the health and fitness level, BMI (75 studies) and motor performance (66 studies) were examined most often.

On the behavioural level, 74 studies analysed the participants’ physical activity, whereas 49 studies examined variables on the level of psychological determinants, such as attitudes, self-concept, knowledge, and motivation.

Table 6 Examined Variables in the 129 Selected Studies for the Systematic Review (Number of Studies Examining each Variable) (Demetriou & Höner, 2012, p. 191)

Health and fitness level Behaviour level Psychological determinants level BMI (75)

Chapter 3: Current Research

56 The outcome variables were measured in different ways across studies. On the health and fitness level, the students’ motor performance was often assessed by either a 6-minute run, a 1-mile run or a shuttle-run test, while other studies examined the whole spectrum of motor abilities (endurance, strength, coordination, flexibility, and speed) using various motor tests.

As previously mentioned, physical activity was not defined or measured consistently among the studies. Kriemler et al. (2010) and Marcus et al. (2009) are among the 14 studies that involved the use of an accelerometer to assess MVPA. Nine studies (e.g., Duncan & Staples, 2010; Horne et al., 2009) involved the use of a pedometer. Eight studies involved an observation using the SOFIT instrument (Schutz et al., 1985), and 45 studies involved the use of a standardised questionnaire. For example, the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ) is an 8-item questionnaire used to assess weekly physical activity patterns prior to, during and after school. The PAQ has been found to have acceptable test-retest reliability r = .75 in boys and r

= .82 in girls (Clocksin et al., 2009). Colin-Ramirez et al. (2010) used the Student Physical Activity and Nutrition Questionnaire (SPAN) to assess physical and sedentary activities. The questionnaire asks children to indicate the number of days on which they participate in sports activities for at least 20 minutes and the number of days on which they participate in activities that do not require them to breathe hard. P. L. Bush et al. (2010) used the Leisure-Time Physical Activity questionnaire (LTPA) — a seven day physical activity recall questionnaire, whereas Slootmaker et al. (2010) used the Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults (AQuAA) to measure the students’ light, moderate, and vigorous intensity physical activities and time spent being sedentary in the past week. Another example is the Previous Day Physical Activity Recall (PDPAR), which is a self-report instrument widely used in physical activity research and has been shown to be significantly associated with objective accelerometer and heart rate measures of physical activity during after-school activities (Weston, Petosa, & Pate, 1997). The outcome variable for the PDPAR is the percentage of 30-min blocks in which a child spends in MVPA or vigorous physical activity (VPA) after school each day (Dzewaltowski et al., 2009).

Finally, all psychological variables were assessed with standardised questionnaires. Gorely, Nevill, Morris, Stensel, and Nevill (2009) used a subscale from the Physical Self Perception Profile (PSPP-C) to assess the students’ perceived physical self-competence and a subscale of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) to measure enjoyment of physical activity. Boyle-Holmes et al. Boyle-Boyle-Holmes et al. (2010) used a scale specifically developed for their study to measure self-efficacy specific to motor skills (Cronbach´s α =.72) and the 6-item Perceived Physical Activity Competence Scale (α = .69) (adapted from Harter, 1982). Christodoulidis, Papaioannou, and Digelidis (2001) also used two subscales of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory to measure the students’ effort and enjoyment in the PE class, their attitudes toward exercise and sports participation (α = .57), and their intention to exercise and participate in sports (α = .83). Harrabi et al. (2010) used a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire to

Chapter 3: Current Research

57 assess the pupils’ knowledge, behaviour, and intentions related to physical activity, but they did not provide any information about the reliability or validity of the scale.

Only 27 (20.9%) of the 129 studies provided a theoretical background. However, some of these studies used more than one theory to guide their empirical analyses. The social-cognitive theory was used the most frequently (18 times), the social-ecological model based on social-cognitive theory was used five times, and the theory of planned behaviour was referenced three times. Some theories (i.e., the transtheoretical model, theory of reasoned action, operant learning theory, goal perspectives theory, adult learning approach, and achievement goal theory) were each used by a single study.