A Playground Training to Improve Children's Health After-school and During Recess: The PLAYground Project

NCT ID: NCT05470621

Last Updated: 2024-02-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 294 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-08-22
• Study Completion Date: 2023-12-30

Brief Summary

Schools are critical settings to foster children's health. The purpose of this two-year cluster-randomized trial is to enhance both the after-school and recess settings to provide children with knowledge and skills to facilitate active and inclusive play. The primary aim of the project is to assess the impact of a playground curriculum intervention on children's physical, social, emotional, and behavioral health. The secondary aim of the project to understand the appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, and sustainability of implementing a playground curriculum in after-school and recess settings.

Detailed Description

Physical, social, and emotional health are critical for children and predict good health later in life. Schools are essential settings to foster children's health as they provide access to the majority of children during crucial stages of development. In particular, recess and before/after school programming are critical sources of children's health and well-being, and core components of a whole school approach to health and wellness. The purpose of this two-year cluster-randomized trial is to enhance the quality of these existing settings through the integration of a playground curriculum designed to promote active and inclusive play.

Based on Social Cognitive Theory aligned with the Theory of Expanded, Extended, and Enhanced Opportunities, it is hypothesized that active and inclusive play through a playground curriculum intervention will improve enjoyment, knowledge, and self-efficacy (personal conditions), social and emotional learning (behavioral conditions), and the development of peer relationships (environmental conditions) among children, leading to increased physical activity and reduced behavioral incidents. The implementation (appropriateness, feasibility, fidelity, and sustainability) of the playground curriculum intervention to improve children's health will be assessed as a secondary outcome.

Participants will be recruited from elementary schools in Mesa Public Schools (Arizona) that offer after-school programming (N=14). The intervention includes the delivery of a curriculum aimed at providing students with knowledge and skills to initiate activities using playground structures. Trainings will be delivered to staff (after-school staff, recess aides, and Physical Education teachers) and students in the after-school setting. Students attending the after-school program will become Play Leaders to transfer the knowledge and skills they learn from PlayOn! to the recess setting.

The impact of the playground curriculum intervention on children's physical, social, emotional, and behavioral health after school and during recess will be measured using surveys, observations, interviews, physical activity devices, and de-identified school behavioral information. Data will be collected at all 14 school sites each fall and spring semester. In year one, seven schools will receive the intervention. Schools will be stratified to either the intervention or control group by Title 1 status - an indicator of school-level income. In year two, the seven control schools will receive the intervention to allow all schools the opportunity to benefit from the project.

Conditions

Physical Inactivity; Social Skills; Behavior, Child

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Playground Curriculum Arm

Staff (after-school staff, recess aides, and physical education teachers) receive training to implement a playground curriculum in an after-school program; children receive a training to use the curriculum during recess

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

PlayOn! playground curriculum

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A staff and student training to implement a playground curriculum in after-school and recess settings

Program As Usual

Staff and students receive no training and participate in after-school programs and recess as usual

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

PlayOn! playground curriculum

A staff and student training to implement a playground curriculum in after-school and recess settings

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Students enrolled an after-school program in Mesa Public Schools

Exclusion Criteria

• Students in grades kindergarten or first grade will be excluded due to their young age.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 7 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 13 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Arizona State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Allison Poulos, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Assistant Professor, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University

Pamela Kulinna, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Professor, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University

Locations

Mesa Public Schools

Mesa, Arizona, United States

Countries

United States

References

Simonton KL, Garn AC, Mercier KJ. Expanding the Discrete Emotions in Physical Education Scale (DEPES): Evaluating Emotions With Behavior and Learning. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2023 Mar;94(1):35-44. doi: 10.1080/02701367.2021.1935434. Epub 2021 Dec 14.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 34904920 (View on PubMed)

Saunders RP, Pate RR, Felton G, Dowda M, Weinrich MC, Ward DS, Parsons MA, Baranowski T. Development of questionnaires to measure psychosocial influences on children's physical activity. Prev Med. 1997 Mar-Apr;26(2):241-7. doi: 10.1006/pmed.1996.0134.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 9085394 (View on PubMed)

Jackson SL, Cunningham SA. Social Competence and Obesity in Elementary School. Am J Public Health. 2015 Jan;105(1):153-158. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302208.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 25393191 (View on PubMed)

Poulos A, Kulinna PH. A cluster randomized controlled trial of an after-school playground curriculum intervention to improve children's physical, social, and emotional health: study protocol for the PLAYground project. BMC Public Health. 2022 Sep 1;22(1):1658. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13991-3.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 36050657 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol

View Document

Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Document Type: Informed Consent Form

View Document

Related Links

https://data.calschls.org/resources/CalSCHLS_AssessSELH.pdf

WestEd, California Department of Education. Using CALSCHLS to assess social-emotional learning and health \[Internet\]. San Francisco, CA: WestEd; 2015.

Other Identifiers

STUDY00015985

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id