Impact of an exercise intervention among Appalachian adolescents

The purpose was to evaluate the impact of the "Plan for Exercise" intervention on four targeted Social Cognitive Theory constructs and physical activity among adolescents living in Appalachia. The physical education, health, and/or life skills teachers within three high schools were trained to deliver a 9-week, 9-lesson exercise promotion curriculum as an integrated component of their courses. Students (n = 262) receiving the intervention delivered by trained high school teachers were compared to students (n = 124) receiving a typical physical education curriculum and students (n = 143) receiving a similar intervention delivered by a trained exercise specialist. Students in all groups were assessed on four targeted SCT constructs and physical activity at pretest and at post-test, using previously validated instruments. ANCOVA analysis, using the pretest score as a covariate, was used to answer the research questions. Each of the ANCOVA models was statistically significant. Students in the trained teacher intervention group scored higher on self-efficacy, self-regulation, social support, outcome expectancy-values and physical activity (p<0.01) than the students in the comparison group at post-test. No differences were found between the intervention groups on social support, self-efficacy, or outcome expectancy-values. Self-regulation scores were higher at post-test for the exercise specialist group compared to the trained teacher group. The intervention was able to produce significant differences between the intervention and comparison schools on each of the post-test SCT scores. This study suggests that teachers can be trained to deliver the theory based intervention.