Examining the relationship between team building and physical activity adherence in rural youth
Date
2008-05-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Doctoral
Abstract
The primary purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between a team building (TB) intervention and the adherence behaviours of youth participating in a physical activity club. A preliminary study served to assess the appropriateness of a modified version of the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ, Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985) for a youth sample (N =203), and the results revealed that the instrument appeared to be appropriate for this population. Participants for the main intervention study (N = 122) were high school students (Grades 9-12) participating in 10 rural, school-based exercise clubs. Individuals in five of the schools (n=65) were exposed to a TB intervention and individuals in the other five schools (n=57) served as the controls. Results were divided into examination of process and outcome variables. In terms of the process variables, results revealed that the five factors (group distinctiveness, group positions, group norms, communication/interaction, individual sacrifices) manipulated in the TB intervention significantly differentiated the two groups, Wilks’ Lambda (5) = .597, p.10. A secondary analysis also revealed a significant relationship between groups and group task satisfaction, with those in the TB group holding greater perceptions of group task satisfaction than those in the control group, Wilks’ Lambda (1, 97) = 11.69, p = .001, þ2 = .02. These findings provided preliminary support for TB as an effective group-based intervention to improve activity attendance in this population. Given this was the first study to examine the relationship between TB and youth adherence in an exercise setting, further research is recommended.
Description
Keywords
physical activity, exercise, youth, rural, group cohesion, group task satisfaction, adherence, team building
Citation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
College of Kinesiology
Program
College of Kinesiology