AbstractsPsychology

Physical activity is positively related to a number of health benefits that influence morbidity and mortality during childhood, adolescence and adulthood. However, an epidemic of physical inactivity is quickly expanding worldwide and particularly affecting the Greek population. Early life periods and especially transitional ones leading to young adulthood are considered critical to intervene to help people adopt and maintain an active lifestyle. Well-designed longitudinal interventions are recommended for these ages. The main objective of this study was to design, implement and assess an intervention to help students adopt a more active profile according to the Transtheoretical model. This theory was selected due to its practicality and adaptability. The intervention materials consisted of a set of five printed manuals based upon the Transtheoretical model and encouraging physical activity. The study design was quasi-experimental (n=665, mean age=15.8 years, 57% girls) with a stratified assignment of the intervention (nInt=263) and control group (nCon=402). The intervention consisted of the administration of one printed manual to each student according to his/her current stage and its use for the next four months.Greek Lyceum students were measured longitudinally in the course of three years extending from two years before their graduation until one year after their graduation. The first two measurements were performed in the second grade of Lyceum one just before and one just after the intervention. The last two measurements were conducted one year after and two years after the intervention. The research questionnaires measured stages of change, processes of change, decisional balance and self-efficacy, which are the main components of the Transtheoretical model. The main analysis of the stage data was performed with latent transition analysis. The latent stage results revealed positive intervention effects in the short-term, which were neutralised in the mid- and long-term. A comparison of the observed stage data pre- and post-intervention confirmed that in the short-term the intervention had successfully helped more students to progress and fewer students to regress along the stages of change continuum compared to the control group. Regarding self-efficacy, decisional balance and processes of change, within-group longitudinal comparisons of the observed data disclosed positive comparative short-term effects. In general, these effects were also reversed or neutralised in the mid-term and remained neutral in the long-term. In most cases the above-mentioned trends of the whole sample were also confirmed for each gender separately making the intervention successful only in the short-term. Τhe positive conclusions of the current study confirmed its success in helping young people adopt and maintain an active lifestyle and also it provided similar future studies with validated tools and added experience to continue in the search for more efficient physical activity interventions. Η φυσική αγωγή σχετίζεται…