Exploring the relevance of positive youth development in urban physical education

Abstract

Background: While there are numerous claims that physical activity promotes positive youth development, there is a need for more empirical research in this area. Many qualitative studies suggest a relationship between a youth development orientation and participants' attitudes and behaviors in physical activity programs. A quantitative analysis of such relationships would test some of the underlying assumptions of physical activity programs designed to promote youth development. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among four youth development scales (Affective Context, Support for Youth Development, Opportunities to Engage Youth as Resources, and Belonging) and perceived effort, enjoyment, and usefulness in the context of urban physical education. Participants and setting: Eighty-seven African American high school students (41 male and 46 female) with a mean age of 14.8 years volunteered to participate in the present study. The setting was a public high school located in an inner-city neighborhood. This school was located in a mid-sized city in the southern USA. Research design: A single administration, cross-sectional design was employed. Data collection: Participants completed the battery of questionnaires in a classroom setting after they completed a six-week physical fitness unit. Directions for completing questionnaires were read aloud and a sample item was provided to clarify the process. Most participants completed the questionnaires in approximately 30 minutes. Data analysis: The relationships among effort, youth as resources, support, belonging, usefulness, enjoyment, and affective context were assessed using simple Pearson correlations with the option of no missing data. A one-way MANOVA was conducted to investigate whether ratings of effort, youth as resources, support, belonging, usefulness, enjoyment, and affective context would vary as a function of gender. Three multiple stepwise regressions incorporating both forward and backward selection were used to investigate the relationships between the independent variables of interest and dependent variables. Findings: The results indicated positive correlations among effort, youth as resources, support, belonging, usefulness, enjoyment, and affective context. Perceived effort, enjoyment, and usefulness were significantly predicted by various combinations of the four youth development scales. Conclusions: It is suggested physical education could be integrated into comprehensive, school-wide positive youth development programs, and that physical education teacher education programs should integrate youth development principles and practices.

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