Citation

Carter JS, Karczewski S, DeCator DD, Hollowell AM. J. Phys. Act. Health 2016; 14(4): 283-289.

Affiliation

2 Department of Behavioral Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CT.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/jpah.2016-0450

PMID

28032816

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Children who engage in regular physical activity are protected from developing behavioral problems at home and school, but many children do not have the opportunity to participate in regular physical activity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a non-curricular school-based physical activity program resulted in reductions in children's psychological problems in two domains: internalizing (e.g., depression) and externalizing (e.g., aggression) and whether these effects varied according to ethnicity, gender, and baseline psychological symptoms.

METHODS: One hundred and eleven third grade students (mean age = 8.47; 55% African American, 42% Latino) from four schools participated in the study. Children in two schools received the Work to Play physical activity intervention during the study (intervention condition) and children in the other two schools did not receive the program until after the study was complete (waitlist control condition). Teachers and parents reported on children's psychological symptoms at baseline and at follow-up approximately nine months later.

RESULTS: Regression analyses showed that children who participated in the program had fewer internalizing symptoms at follow-up. Ethnicity moderated intervention effects with significant decreases in internalizing symptoms for African American, but not Hispanic participants. Neither gender nor baseline psychological symptoms moderated the program's effectiveness.

CONCLUSIONS: The Work-to-Play intervention program appeared to be effective in reducing internalizing symptoms for ethnic minority participants who are at the greatest risk for psychological problems.

Language: en