A relational perspective on students' experiences of participation in an ‘Interest-based physical education’ programme

While many students participate autonomously in physical education (PE), research shows that students who do not participate in leisure sport are less likely to perceive PE positively. Attempting to optimise the reciprocal student (↔) PE relationship and secure equal opportunities for learning in PE, schools in a Norwegian county developed an ‘Interest-based PE’ programme offering students a choice of two PE approaches: a sports approach (SA), focused on sports activities, and an explorative approach (EA), focused on alternative movement activities. Based on a process-relational understanding of adolescent development and learning, this study seeks a deeper understanding of changes in the PE experiences of students in the programme. Sixteen students (ages 17–18 years) who had participated in Interest-based PE for 18 months participated in qualitative semi-structured one-on-one interviews where they reflected on their relationship with PE prior to and during the programme. Data were subject to inductive interpretive thematic analysis showing that ‘the role of sports in PE’ framed student ↔ PE relations and that this sports discourse regulated the relations, also within the Interest-based PE programme. The separation of students into an EA and a SA accentuated the sports discourse and students’ sports competencies, contributing to segregation on the basis of students' confidence, competence and ability in sports. Based on this study, we question the assumption that differentiation programmes, such as Interest-based PE, will optimise student ↔ subject relations if these relations remain governed by the sports discourse, rather than the PE curriculum.publishedVersio

Stability of Individuals’ Definitions of Success and the Influence of Perceived Motivational Climate: A Longitudinal Perspective

In the present study, we investigated the stability and malleability of cadets’ definitions of success (mastery and performance goal orientations) contextualized within a certain motivational climate (mastery and performance climates). Based on data from three military academies, the results revealed that cadets’ goal orientations and their perceptions of the motivational climate remained relatively stable throughout the 2 years of study across three time-points. We also found that a mastery climate predicted individual mastery orientation, and that a performance climate predicted individual performance orientation. These findings contribute to achievement goal theory by clarifying the importance of considering goal orientation contextualized within a certain motivational climate over time. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.publishedVersio

The Relationships Between Self-Concept, Self-Efficacy, and Military Skills and Abilities

Abstract. This study investigated the relationship between academic self-concept, academic self-efficacy and the self-reported acquirement of certain specific military skills and abilities. Our sample consisted of 141 military cadets from the Norwegian Military Academy (Army), the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy, and the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy. Supporting our hypotheses, it was found that perceived academic self-concept related positively to self-efficacy, after controlling for initial levels of self-efficacy, and that self-efficacy relates positively to self-reported Individual Coping Capacity (ICC), Cooperation in Difficult Situations (CDS), and Motivation to Achievement (MA), this after controlling for the initial levels of these Military Skills and Abilities (MSA). We discuss the implications of these findings.publishedVersio

Sport participation and loneliness in adolescents: the mediating role of perceived social competence

Published version of an article in the journal: Current Psychology. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-013-9174-5Young people perceive loneliness as a distressing emotional experience associated with sadness and boredom. Also, feelings of loneliness may be associated with psychosocial and emotional problems during adolescence. The aim of this study was to investigate whether perceived social competence mediated the cross-sectional relationship between sport participation and loneliness in young people when controlling for age, sex, shyness, and non-organized physical activity. This cross-sectional study consisted of 2,055 pupils (995 boys and 1,060 girls) from 38 schools in Norway, with a mean age of 15.3 years. In addition to normal theory regression procedures, bootstrapping techniques were used to test the hypothesized indirect effect. Findings revealed that sport participation was inversely associated with loneliness mediated by perceived social competence. This indirect effect was evident when controlling for age, sex, non-organized physical activity and shyness. Findings suggest that sport participation during adolescence is indirectly associated with lower level of loneliness through higher level of perceived social competence. One may argue that sport participation during adolescence can contain important social components that help meet young peoples’ social needs and expectations, which in turn may prevent feelings of loneliness

Does Eagerness for Physical Activity Matter? The Association Between Eagerness and Physical Activity Among Adolescents

This study investigated the association between perceived parental support and eagerness for physical activity (EPA) among adolescents, and the association between EPA and physical activity. We further examined whether perceived athletic competence (PAC) mediates a presumed association between EPA and physical activity level, when controlling for gender. This study included 320 adolescents (aged 12–13) from 18 schools in two medium-sized Norwegian municipalities. Questionnaires and accelerometers were assessed during spring 2017. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the associations. Standard regression coefficients are presented. Data demonstrated that perceived parental support was positively associated with EPA (β = 0.52), and eagerness was positively associated with PAC (β = 0.52). Both EPA (β = 0.20) and PAC (β = 0.24) were also positively associated with moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). When mediating the relationship between EPA and MVPA, through PAC, the effect on MVPA increased (from β = 0.20 to β = 0.32). Analysis revealed that 87% of the adolescents fulfilled the national health recommendations for physical activity. This study highlights the relevance of EPA and PAC in studies of physical activity among adolescents, and the impact of perceived parental support for adolescents' EPA and physical activity level

The effect of a school-based intervention on physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength : the School in Motion cluster randomized trial

Background: Physical activity (PA) declines throughout adolescence, therefore PA promotion during this period is important. We analyzed the effect of two school-based PA interventions on daily PA levels, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and muscle strength among adolescents. Methods: For the nine-month School in Motion intervention study (ScIM), we cluster-randomized 30 Norwegian secondary schools (N = 2084, mean age [SD] = 14 [0.3] years) to one of three study arms. The physically active learning (PAL) intervention included 30 min physically active learning, 30 min PA and a 60 min physical education (PE) lesson per week. The Don’t worry-Be happy (DWBH) intervention included a 60 min PA lesson and a 60 min PE lesson per week, both tailored to promote friendships and wellbeing. Both intervention arms were designed to engage the adolescents in 120 min of PA per week in addition to recess and mandatory PE lessons. The control group continued as per usual, including the standard amount of mandatory PE. PA (main outcome) was assessed by accelerometers, CRF and muscle strength (secondary outcomes) were assessed by an intermittent running test and selected tests from the Eurofit test battery. Results: Daily PA and time spent in moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA) decreased in all groups throughout the intervention. The mean difference in PA level and MVPA for participants in the PAL-intervention arm was 34.7 cpm (95% CI: 4.1, 65.3) and 4.7 min/day (95% CI: 0.6, 8.8) higher, respectively, compared to the control arm. There were no significant intervention effects on daily PA level, MVPA or time spent sedentary for adolescents in the DWBH-intervention arm. Adolescents in the PAL-intervention arm increased distance covered in the running test compared to controls (19.8 m, 95% CI: 10.4, 29.1), whilst a negative intervention effect was observed among adolescents in the DWBH-intervention arm (− 11.6 m, 95% CI: − 22.0, − 1.1). Conclusion: The PAL-intervention resulted in a significantly smaller decrease in daily PA level, time spent in MVPA, and increased CRF compared to controls. Our results indicate that a teacher-led intervention, including three unique intervention components, is effective in curbing the decline in PA observed across our cohort and improving CRF.publishedVersio

Leisure-Time, an Arena for Socialization, 1993

The aim of the project was to register young people at youth centers experiences in leisure time from a developmental perspective. One aimed at studying the youth's experience of activity, arena and social relations through a description of the leisure time situation and to compare child welfare recipients with a control group. The sample consisted of 60 young people in the age 14-18 years, whereof 20 persons were from different child welfare centers in Oslo. Data is available on situation level (N=1542), and “Experience Sampling Method” was applied

Performance orientation and injury among military cadets: the mediating role of disinhibition

This study examined the mediating role of disinhibition (sensation seeking) on the positive association between performance goal orientation (achievement motivation) and risk of sustaining injury. Our study comprised 248 cadets from three military academies. In support of our hypotheses, we found a positive relationship between performance goal orientation and risk of sustaining injury and that this relationship was mediated by disinhibition. This finding contributes to the extant achievement goal theory literature by demonstrating a mechanism through which performance orientation relates to the likelihood of sustaining an injury. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed

Lifestyle sport contexts as self-organized epistemic cultures

Compared to traditional athletes and PE students, self-organized lifestyle sport practitioners usually have no podiums to reach or grades to earn. They have no authorized instructor available, but seem to treat this apparent deficiency as an opportunity to facilitate their own learning processes. However, from a traditional learning perspective, it can be challenging to understand how these processes unfold. Drawing on theoretical concepts from the educational sociologist Knorr Cetina, the aim of this study is therefore to understand how a self-organized mixed group of trickers, B-boys, and free-runners facilitate knowledge creation when no instructors guide or control their work. Based on observations and interviews we found that the practitioners’ knowledge developed in a continuous and invigorating circuit between a worldwide gym on the internet where the practitioners searched for updated knowledge, and the local gym where they practiced knowledge development as intra- and inter-disciplinary embodied interactions. The knowledge object conveyed by the practitioners as ‘kinesthetic understanding’ was not a fixed a-priori product that could be completely achieved, and the practitioners’ acceptance of the knowledge object’s essential incompleteness seemed to create a never-ending desire to glimpse the unattainable. The group of tumblers studied in this paper represent an alternative epistemic practice that should be explored in physical education contexts. However, such exploration requires the development of an affective and processual language that reflects the relational intimacy between students and their knowledge objects, rather than a constative language reflecting distance, achievement, and external assessment

Participation in Organized Sports and Self-Organized Physical Activity: Associations with Developmental Factors

Engagement in organized sports is associated with developmental factors, such as, healthy growth, cognitive abilities, psychological well-being and lower substance use. Research also suggest that the spontaneous free play that characterises self-organized physical activity (PA) provides young people with opportunities to learn social skills, such as self-regulation and conflict-resolution skills. We assessed associations between participation in the two activity types and several demographics along with developmental factors (e.g., body mass index (BMI)). Data was from a representative sample of 2060 students attending 38 schools in Norway (mean age (Mage) = 15.29, standard deviation (SD) = 1.51; 52% females). Results indicated that while engagement in organized sports was more related to developmental factors, relative to self-organized PA, engaging concurrently in both activities for at least an hour a week was more developmentally beneficial than engaging only in one for the same amount of time. Thus, PA programmes for students will enhance their effectiveness if they focus on structured activities but also self-organized activities where students can coordinate themselves