Despite public health concerns and the many recognized benefits of physical activity (PA), levels of participation among youth remain below national recommendations. To this end, a variety of strategies for promoting physical activity for youth have been advocated, including multi-faceted, school-based approaches. One that continues to be identified as having great potential is a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP). The aim of this article is to introduce a conceptual framework for school-based PA promotion that serves to stimulate, guide, and organize related research and practice. The CSPAP conceptual framework is a proposed framework, informed by existing science, recommendations, and a social ecological perspective with individual PA behavior as the epicenter. Discussed in turn are the four proposed interactive levels of influence (i.e., components, facilitators, leaders, and culture) and several integral elements proposed to operate at each level. The article concludes with a presentation of the utility of the framework for research and practice.
Using self-determination theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to test a structural model of hypothesized relationships among perceived need support from physical education teachers (autonomy support, competence support, and relatedness support), psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), intrinsic motivation, and physical activity. Participants were 286 middle school students in the southeastern U.S. They completed previously validated questionnaires assessing their perceived need support from teachers, need satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and physical activity. The hypothesized model demonstrated a good fit with the data (RMSEA = .08; CFI = .97; NFI = .96; GFI = .96). Need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship between need support and physical activity. The constructs of perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness represent the nutriments that facilitate students’ intrinsic motivation and ultimately positively predict students’ physical activity. The findings supported the theoretical tenets of self-determination theory.
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