Promoting Mental Among Urban Adolescents Through Physical Activity

Abstract

PURPOSE: Early adolescence is characterized by decreasing parental monitoring and increasing peer pressure to engage in risky behaviors that may initiate a trajectory toward poor school outcomes, association with deviant peers and stressful life events. High-quality physical activity programs can promote mental and physical health of urban youth by providing refuge from neighborhood violence and opportunities for social skills development and positive peer relations. METHODS: Middle school youth across 5 Chicago Park District parks participated in an open trial of Leaders @ Play 2.0, a 1–2 hour biweekly component of a 6-week Summer Camp. Leaders @ Play was developed via university-community partnership, co-facilitated by park staff and mental health staff, and designed to teach and reinforce life skills (i.e., effective communication, emotion regulation, and problem solving) through physically active games and relaxation activities. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was completed by parents at baseline and post-test. The SDQ reports a prosocial scale, total problems scale, and 4 subscales (emotional problems, conduct problems, peer problems, and hyperactivity/inattention). Descriptive statistics were analyzed for all participants at baseline and paired t-tests and within-group effect sizes (Cohen’s d) were calculated for participants providing both baseline and post-test data. RESULTS: Youth (N=38) were 31% Hispanic; 26% African American; 55% low-income, 57% male, and M=13.2 years-old. Effect sizes demonstrated a moderate effect on prosocial behavior (t[1,14]=2.02, p=.063; d=0.70) and a small effect on total problems (t[1,14]=2.00, p=.066; d=.-0.43). Among subscales, emotional problems improved significantly (t[1,14]=2.66, p<.05; d=-.70), a small non-significant effect size was evident for conduct problems (t[1,14]=1.19, p=.253; d=-.31), while peer problems (t[1,14]=-0.37, p=.719; d=0.07) and hyperactivity/inattention (t[1,14]=7.91, p=.442; d=-0.16) were unaffected. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide preliminary support for the potential of physical activity programs that systematically challenge and reinforce social skills to improve prosocial behaviors and decrease emotional problems amongst adolescents in urban settings.