Overview
Physical activity benefits both physical and mental health and inactivity in children and young people is a major concern. There is a drop in physical activity levels when they move from primary to secondary education, and most adolescents aged 11-15 years do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity. At this time, many adolescents also experience psychosocial difficulties associated with making and keeping friends, loneliness, bullying, low self-esteem, and body image concerns.
Past research
Most research into psychosocial aspects of physical activity has focused on individual factors like self-esteem, self-perceptions of competence and motivation. Few studies have examined how both personal factors (body image, self-concept) and social factors (loneliness, friendships, bullying) together influence physical activity in adolescents aged 11-15 years. Few studies on psychosocial aspects of physical activity have been carried out adolescents aged 11-15 years.
Research aims
This study will the OxWell survey to examine how social and emotional factors relate to how active adolescents aged 11-15 years are. A systematic review will identify programs that have evaluated psychosocial approaches to increase physical activity in adolescents. Together, these findings will inform the co-design of an intervention targeting psychosocial factors to help teenagers become more physically active.
Early findings
Many teenagers, particularly girls and gender-diverse students (ages 11-15) are not physically active enough and report high levels of mental distress, low self-esteem, loneliness, and difficulty making and keeping friends. These factors have not been adequately considered in interventions to increase physical activities.
