Recess physical activity and school-related social factors in Finnish primary and lower secondary schools: cross-sectional associations.

Henna L Haapala,Harto Hakonen,Kaarlo Laine,Mirja H Hirvensalo,Anna Kankaanpää,Lauri Laakso,Tuija H Tammelin,Taru Lintunen

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1114

Abstract

BackgroundParticipation in physical activities provides students with opportunities for social interaction and social skills development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of students’ recess physical activity with school-related social factors.MethodsData were collected in 19 schools countrywide in autumn 2010, and 1463 students from grades 4 and 5 (primary school) and from grades 7 and 8 (lower secondary school) completed an anonymous questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate whether self-reported physical activity at recess was associated with peer relationships at school, relatedness to school and school climate. Analyses were adjusted for self-reported overall physical activity and conducted for primary and lower secondary schools. Multi-group analysis was used to test sex differences among the associations.ResultsIn primary school, physical activity at recess was positively associated with peer relationships at school (boys: b = 0.17, p = 0.007 and girls: b = 0.21, p <0.001), relatedness to school (boys: b = 0.18, p = 0.002 and girls: b = 0.24, p <0.001) and school climate (girls: b = 0.17, p = 0.001), after adjusting for overall physical activity. In lower secondary school, physical activity at recess was positively associated with peer relationships at school (boys: b = 0.09, p = 0.006 and girls: b = 0.12, p = 0.010) but not with other school-related social factors. No sex differences were observed in these associations.ConclusionsOur results suggest that students’ participation in physical activities during school recess is positively associated with students’ school-related social factors. In the future, it would be worthwhile to study how physical activity at recess should be organised in order to support the development of school-related social factors.

Highlights

Participation in physical activities provides students with opportunities for social interaction and social skills development
Descriptive statistics We observed two trends in how students reported their participation in physical activities at recess and their overall physical activity (Table 2)
The first trend was that the levels of physical activity at recess were higher among boys than among girls in primary and lower secondary schools

Summary

Introduction

Participation in physical activities provides students with opportunities for social interaction and social skills development. Studies have linked physical activity to learning, cognitive functions and academic performance [2,3] Aside from these benefits, there is some evidence that various physical activity settings can improve social development through opportunities for social interactions, meeting friends, co-operating with others, and problem. Students have the opportunity for informal social interaction without the structure of the classroom and adult control, and through play they learn the skills needed in everyday life, including negotiation, problem solving, and co-operation [10]. The multiple definitions of students’ relationship and connection to school tend to concern the same themes: belonging, liking school, support from teachers and peers, engagement in academics, fair discipline, and participation in extracurricular activities [12]. The quality of social life at schools is connected to sex and age; girls reported higher school-related social support than boys, and these perceptions deteriorated with increasing age in both sexes [17,18,19,20]

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