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Purpose: The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the three-year longitudinal growth trends of cardiorespiratory fitness among middle school students, and (b) examine the associations between individual and school-level socio-demographic variables and middle school student cardiorespiratory fitness performance. Methods: A longitudinal multilevel analysis design was used. Participants were adolescents (N = 44,801; 48.1% girls) from 33 middle schools in an Eastern U.S. state. The grand mean age for the participants was 12.42 ± 0.98 years old. Individual-level variables included grade (testing year), sex, and the 15-m Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) performance, which was measured annually for 3 years. School-level variables included the percentage of students receiving a free and reduced-price meal, student-faculty ratio for physical education, and school-level academic performance. Results: A three-level hierarchical linear model was used to model the longitudinal performance change across 3 years accounting for individual and school-level factors. A quadratic growth curve was identified in PACER performance changes, with a positive first-order coefficient (β = 3.05) and a negative second-order coefficient (β =−0.82) overall. Sex was significantly associated with PACER changes (p <.01), with boys and girls having divergent longitudinal growth curves. School-level academic performance was positively associated with PACER performance; however, the association was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Results indicate that although cardiorespiratory fitness improved across years, on average, performance did not keep up with healthy fitness zone recommendations. In addition, sex-based discrepancies were evident as boys and girls demonstrated different quadratic growth curves in cardiorespiratory fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to adopt an explicitly intersectional approach to examine the experiences of women identifying as having a visual impairment and as being overweight or obese in integrated physical education (PE). Method: An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) research approach was used, and six women (ages 25-34) with visual impairments who identified as being overweight or obese acted as participants. The sources of data included semistructured audiotaped telephone interviews and reflective interview notes. Data were analyzed thematically using a three-step analytic process informed by IPA. Results: Based on the data analysis, three inter-related themes emerged. The first theme, restricted/reluctant participation, described participants' experiences with PE activity restrictions and the influence of visual impairment and overweight or obesity on these restrictions. The second theme, teacher discrimination, described participants' recollection of discriminatory practices by physical educators that were influenced by perceptions of inability. Finally, the third theme, isolation, teasing and surveillance issues, described challenging social instances and how those instances were influenced by body size and disability status. Conclusions: Using an IPA approach, three themes emerged that exposed central experiences that were informed by the participants' identities as individuals with visual impairments and being overweight or obese. Through the lens of intersectionality, these themes contribute to our understanding of how these identities interacted to contribute to disadvantaging experiences in PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use an explicitly intersectional approach to examine the embodied experiences of individuals identifying as female and as having a visual impairment in school-based physical education.Method: An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) research approach was used, and 8 adult women (ages 21-30 years) with visual impairments acted as participants for this study. The primary sources of data were semistructured audiotaped telephone interviews and reflected field notes. Data were analyzed thematically using a 3-step analytical process inspired by IPA.Results: Based on the data analysis, 3 interrelated themes were constructed from the participant transcripts. The first theme, "Girls don't like gym anyway": limited participation from the female perspective, described the participants' experiences with limited participation and the influence of gender and visual impairment on these limitations. The second theme, "She can't do what other kids can do": teachers' expectations and unable bodies, described how the participants' unable or flawed bodies influenced their teachers' expectations of their abilities in physical education. The final theme, "It was really awkward": feelings about negative peer interactions, demonstrated participants' embodied perspectives toward bullying and other negative peer interactions.Conclusions: Utilizing an IPA approach, the researchers constructed 3 themes that exposed central experiences and reflections that were informed by the participants' identified gender and disability. Through the lens of intersectionality, these themes contribute to our understanding of how multiple identities (femaleness, visual impairment) contributed to disadvantages in physical education contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine the experiences of adults with visual impairments during school-based integrated physical education (PE).Method: An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) research approach was used and 16 adults (ages 21-48 years; 10 women, 6 men) with visual impairments acted as participants for this study. The primary sources of data were semistructured audiotaped telephone interviews and reflective field notes, which were recorded during and immediately following each interview. Thematic development was undertaken utilizing a 3-step analytical process guided by IPA.Results: Based on the data analysis, 3 interrelated themes emerged from the participant transcripts: (a) feelings about "being put to the side," frustration and inadequacy; (b) "She is blind, she can't do it," debilitating feelings from physical educators' attitudes; and (c) "not self-esteem raising," feelings about peer interactions. The 1st theme described the participants' experiences and ascribed meaning to exclusionary practices. The 2nd theme described the participants' frustration over being treated differently by their PE teachers because of their visual impairments. Lastly, "not self-esteem raising," feelings about peer interactions demonstrated how participants felt about issues regarding challenging social situations with peers in PE.Conclusions: Utilizing an IPA approach, the researchers uncovered 3 interrelated themes that depicted central feelings, experiences, and reflections, which informed the meaning of the participants' PE experiences. The emerged themes provide unique insight into the embodied experiences of those with visual impairments in PE and fill a previous gap in the extant literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:A primary goal of physical education is to develop physically literate individuals with the knowledge, skills, and confidence necessary for a physically active lifestyle. Guided by the expectancy-value and interest motivation theories, the purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between students' motivation and health-related fitness knowledge developed in physical education and their after-school physical activity participation.Method:Third-, 4th-, and 5th-grade students (N = 293) from 6 elementary schools in a large metropolitan school district in the United States provided data on expectancy beliefs and perceived task values, situational interest, health-related fitness knowledge, and after-school physical activity. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a simultaneous multiple regression model.Results:It was found that expectancy beliefs (β = .20,t = 2.16,p = .03) and perceived exploration demand (β = .25,t = 2.58,p = .01), a source for situational interest, were positively related to after-school physical activity. The 2 variables, however, accounted for only 11.2% of the variances for children's after-school physical activity participation.Conclusion:This study demonstrates that students' active exploration and expectancy beliefs for success in physical education have limited influence on leisure-time physical activity participation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]