Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Adolescents are disproportionally affected by mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. Physical activity is an accepted modality for improving adolescent mental health. One physical activity-based program is Team Unbreakable. Widely implemented, no formal evaluation has been conducted to date. Drawing on theoretical tenets of the mastery and social support hypotheses, the present study explored the program’s effectiveness and mechanisms of action through a quasi-experimental, mixed-methods design. Participants (nintervention=58; ncomparison=62; Mage=14.8 years) completed pre- and post-questionnaires on measures of anxiety and depression symptoms, mastery, and social connectedness. Individual interviews were conducted with participants (n=10) to capture program experiences. Repeated measures analysis of variance and mediation analysis indicated no significant effects on outcome variables. Inductive thematic analysis demonstrated that the program was evaluated favourably and theoretical tenets were noteworthy in the participants’ accounts. Findings suggest that mastery and social support are valuable program components, but further exploration of these mechanisms is necessary.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Alyona Koulanova
Language: English
Topic: Physical Activity and Health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3013682668