Grant: Operating Grant

Physical inactivity in adolescence has been linked to a vast array of physical and mental health problems. In schools across Canada adolescents are required to undertake physical education, and are potentially exposed to a range of activities (e.g., recreational and competitive sport) that can be pursued outside of the school environment and into adulthood. Indeed, from a health promotion perspective, physical education teachers are ideally placed to make a lasting impression on young people to help them engage in lifelong physical activity participation. However, the fact remains that in Canada 90% of teenagers are not sufficiently active to meet international guidelines for optimal growth and development. The purpose of the proposed research is to apply an innovative framework of teaching that draws from transformational leadership theory, to enhance the physical activity behaviors of Canadian adolescents. Recent research suggests that transformational teaching (a) is associated with a range of adaptive social cognitions and physical activity behaviours among adolescents, and (b) can be developed through intervention. In the proposed research we present a transformational teaching intervention, and test the efficacy of this intervention through use of a randomized controlled trial. The research will examine the relationships between transformational teaching and physical activity behaviours displayed by adolescents (primary outcome). The research will also look to examine two key psychological mechanisms (self-efficacy and self-determined motivation) that might explain how transformational teaching influences adolescent physical activity (secondary outcomes). Should empirical support be found for the predictive utility of the transformational teaching construct, it is anticipated that the proposed program of research will be used to inform future evidence-based initiatives to inspire a greater proportion of adolescents to become and stay physically active.