The present study investigated how specific social factors, associated with family life, related to children's volitional participation in physical activity. Of primary interest was an examination of whether differences in children's physical activity could be attributed to either parental participation in regular exercise or to social economic status. Information was collected from a sample of Year 6 primary school children (n = 924) concerning their reported involvement in physical activity the previous week, their perceptions of parental involvement in regular exercise and their social economic status as measured by their eligibility, or not, for free school meals. Employing multivariate and univariate analysis of variance techniques the results suggest differences in children's physical activity could be attributed to the father's, but not the mother's, exercise habits. The children's social economic status did not account for any differences in their physical activity levels or habits. Possible explanations and implications of these findings are given.
Objective: With the increasing demand for clinical psychology services and the existing shortage of clinical psychologists, it is theoretically and clinically important to identify variables associated with non-attendance for clinical psychology appointments. The study reported here attempted to: (a) examine the effect of waiting time for an appointment on non-attendance to clinical psychology services; (b) investigate variables associated with prolonged waiting time; (c) explore the nature of the relationship between waiting time and length of psychological treatment.Method: The records of 49 3 patients offered an appointment to attend a clinical psychology service over a period of 24 months were analysed. Subsequently information on sex, age, type of referring problem, previous treatment history, treatment venue and waiting time for appointment, was collected and statistically analysed.Results: Non-attendance was significantly related to prolonged waiting time and young age. Controlling for the effects of waiting time and age, patients with complex problems and new patients wh o had never sought psychological treatment in the past were less likely to attend. Length of waiting time was higher in groups with previous treatment history, patients seen at a hospital based department, and patients with complex problems and anxiety disorders. Finally, length of psychological treatment (total number of sessions required) was not affected by prolonged waiting time.Conclusion: Non-attendance for clinical psychology appointments was associated with (a) young age, (b) prolonged waiting time (over six months), (c) complex psychological problems, and (d) new patients. The limitations and clinical implications of these findings are critically discussed.
The present study was undertaken to examine the physical activity levels and choices of a sample of 10-11 year-old primary school children. Nine hundred and twenty-four children completed a self-report questionnaire devised to assess participation in physical activity over the previous 7 days. Over the previous week 17.1% of the children failed to accumulate 30 min total physical activity, in particular, over one fifth of the girls (21.2%) had not participated in more than 30 min in total. Less than one third (31.5%) of the children had satisfied the recommended level of physical activity for increasing cardiorespiratory fitness, HDL cholesterol and enhancing psychological health, although more boys (36.3%) had satisfied the criteria than girls (26.7%). Gender differences were also apparent in the activities chosen, the boys were more likely to participate in the team sports traditionally taught in physical education whilst the girls spent more of their time engaged in sports not usually included in the curriculum.
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