Narelle Eather

Background Mathematics anxiety and disengagement are growing concerns in secondary education and are linked to poorer academic outcomes. This study examined the feasibility of the Strength in Numbers program, a classroom-based intervention integrating resistance training with mathematics instruction. Methods We conducted a single-arm feasibility study in one secondary school in New South Wales, Australia. Two Year 9 mathematics classes (n = 50 student; mean age 14.7 years) participated in a 3-week intervention involving brief, curriculum-aligned classroom-based resistance training sessions delivered twice weekly via video. Four prespecified progression criteria related to recruitment, dose delivered, acceptability, and fidelity were the primary outcomes. These outcomes, along with teacher capability, opportunity, and motivation, were examined using teacher surveys and session observations. Results All four progression criteria were met. Recruitment exceeded targets (86% consent), both teachers delivered all six planned sessions, and both teachers agreed that the program was acceptable (M = 4, SD = 0.0). Fidelity was supported by high completion rates for assessments of on-task behaviour (93%), acute mathematics anxiety (78%), chronic mathematics anxiety (72%), and teacher outcome measures (100%). Conclusion The Strength in Numbers program may be feasible to implement in secondary mathematics classrooms. A larger controlled trial with refinements to intervention delivery is warranted. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12625000035426). Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12625000035426

Sport is a distinct, structured form of physical activity that can support psychological health and social development in children and adolescents. Compared to other forms of physical activity, the unique attributes of sport, including its combination of physical, cognitive, and social opportunities and challenges within structured goal-directed contexts, may confer additional psychological and social benefits. This systematic review synthesizes evidence on the psychological and social outcomes of sport participation in children and adolescents, and proposes an updated, developmentally informed conceptual model explaining the mechanisms through which sport supports mental health. A systematic search was conducted across five electronic databases on 18 October 2024, with no date limits applied. Eligible studies were peer-reviewed, published in English, and focused on the relationship between sport participation and psychological and/or social outcomes in 5-17-year olds. Sport was defined as a structured form of physical activity performed individually or in teams, with established rules and a specific objective. Risk of bias was assessed using validated tools tailored to study design. From 17,017 records, 189 studies were included, spanning cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs. Sport participation was consistently associated with better mental health-including higher self-esteem, life satisfaction, and reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms-and enhanced social outcomes, such as improved interpersonal skills, prosocial behavior, and belonging. Team sports showed stronger and more consistent benefits than individual sports. The experimental evidence highlighted potential causal effects on emotional regulation, resilience, and prosocial behavior. Risk of bias was generally low among randomized trials, although most relied on self-report data and lacked pre-registration. Observational and quasi-experimental studies were methodologically sound but were affected by potential confounding and social desirability bias. This review provides compelling evidence that organized sport participation supports psychological and social development in children and adolescents. Sport was consistently associated with higher self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, and lower symptoms of depression and anxiety, with team sports showing stronger and more consistent benefits than individual sports. Social outcomes-including enhanced belonging, prosocial behavior, and interpersonal skills-were also evident, underscoring the unique contribution of sport as a social context for development. The refined conceptual model proposed here identifies self-perceptions, peer belonging, and social support as central mechanisms, offering a developmentally informed framework for leveraging sport to promote youth mental health. These findings highlight sport, especially inclusive and well-structured team sports, as a powerful setting for fostering psychological well-being and positive social outcomes, warranting prioritization in youth development policies and programs.

Background : Girls are less physically active than boys, and school-based physical activity interventions in co-educational settings are often less effective for girls. To help improve the design of these interventions, this study explored which school-based strategies stakeholders consider most important for increasing girls’ physical activity. Methods : A Delphi study was conducted using 3 rounds of online surveys with stakeholders from 3 groups: academics, school educators, and government representatives. In the first round, participants identified strategies they believed could increase girls’ physical activity in schools, and responses were analyzed using thematic analysis to generate a list of strategies. In the second and third rounds, participants rated the importance of these strategies using an 8-point Likert scale; consensus was defined as responses falling within a consecutive 3-point range. Results : Stakeholders across the 3 groups reached consensus on 19 strategies that emphasized creating inclusive, enjoyable, and empowering environments for girls including approaches, such as supportive school cultures, positive role modeling, safe and welcoming spaces, and opportunities for student voice. Additional areas of agreement differed slightly across groups, with academic and government representatives highlighting system-level and curriculum-related approaches, and school educators and government representatives emphasizing relational practices and operational supports, such as staff well-being and resourcing. Conclusions : Overall, the findings highlight the importance of coordinated, multilevel strategies that combine inclusive teaching practices with broader school and policy support to enhance girls’ participation in physical activity, offering guidance for researchers, educators, and policymakers seeking to design and sustain more effective school-based interventions.

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate whether variety and choice affect adolescents’ motivation in high-intensity interval training during physical education. Method : We conducted a four-armed randomized controlled trial involving 206 students from one school (aged 12.6 ± 0.5 years), who participated in a 6-week high-intensity interval training program, delivered twice weekly during physical education. Students were randomized by class to the low- or high-varieties, choice, or control (standard warm-up) conditions. Results : Group-by-time effects resulted for the low- and high-variety groups on intrinsic motivation ( d = 0.43, 0.47) compared with the control group; high-variety and choice groups had higher enjoyment than the low-variety group, and the high-variety group showed greater positive affect than low-variety and choice groups ( d = 0.68, 0.61). Low-variety and choice groups had significant improvements for cardiorespiratory and lower body muscular fitness (respectively). Conclusion : Offering variety or choice in high-intensity interval training during physical education may enhance intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, positive affect, and/or fitness outcomes in adolescents.

Purpose : This study evaluated the objectivity, test/retest reliability, and validity of the Basketball Throw Test (BTT) test administered in the school setting by physical education teachers for assessing the upper-body muscular strength in adolescents and its relationship with body mass index. Method : Four hundred and seventy Algerian adolescents (223 males and 247 females; mean age = 14.71 ± 1.95 years) performed the BTT on two occasions and the handgrip test (criterion). Convergent reliability was estimated using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC _2,1 ) and graphically examined following the Bland–Altman approach. Pearson correlation coefficient employed to determine validity. Results : The BTT demonstrated excellent objectivity ICC _2,1 = .963 (95% confidence interval [.948, .973]) and test–retest reliability ICC _2,1 with values from .994 to .997 (95% confidence interval [.992, .997]). The Bland–Altman plot confirmed reliability results. The BTT was positively correlated with handgrip test ( r = .75, p < .001). Conclusion : The BTT is an objective, valid, and reliable measure of adolescents’ upper-body muscular strength

Purpose : Most classroom physical activity break interventions have been conducted in primary schools. This is the first study to examine teachers’ perceptions of integrating high-intensity activity breaks into academic lessons for older adolescents in the final years of secondary school. Method : Twelve teachers who participated in the Burn 2 Learn cluster randomized controlled trial completed a semistructured interview with a member of the research team (∼30 min per interview). Results : Teachers were supportive of activity breaks, citing increases in students’ well-being and improvements in classroom engagement following classroom activity breaks. However, competing academic pressure (particularly as major examinations drew closer) was the most cited barrier to implementation. Discussion : Despite the benefits of classroom activity breaks, providing alternative opportunities during the school day (i.e., before classes) may be needed for older adolescents in their final years of schooling if curriculum time is unable to be redirected away from academic subjects.

Background: TransformEd is an evidence-based program that targets initial teacher education to equip future teachers with innovative strategies that increase the health, wellbeing and education outcomes of school children. Feasibility, effectiveness and implementation research demonstrate that TransformEd significantly enhances pre-service teachers’ confidence and competence to deliver such strategies. However, to date, the program has only been tested in undergraduate teaching degrees. It is important to gather more evidence for the feasibility and efficacy of the program at all levels of initial teacher education, including at postgraduate level. Methods: A feasibility study was conducted to examine the feasibility of embedding TransformEd in a Master of Teaching degree at one Australian university. Preliminary efficacy was measured by pre- and post-program surveys completed by Master of Teaching pre-service teachers who received the 12-week TransformEd program. Implementation was measured by adherence checklists completed by lecturers who delivered TransformEd. Post-program focus groups and interviews with senior academics and lecturers, respectively, explored perceptions of all eight domains of feasibility. Results: Survey results demonstrated that the TransformEd program was positively received by pre-service teachers (n = 21), resulting in improvements in several measures of teaching confidence and competence regarding delivering strategies to improve school children’s health, wellbeing and learning. The TransformEd strategies were well adopted by lecturers and implementation increased over time. Both lecturers (n = 3) and senior academics (n = 2) had positive perceptions of the program, highlighting its feasibility in postgraduate initial teacher education. Conclusion: This study supports the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the TransformEd program in postgraduate initial teacher education and provides a foundation for a future controlled trial to rigorously evaluate its impact, with potential population-level benefits for children's health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes in Australia.

Background: Schools are ideal settings for physical activity promotion; however, children and adolescents with disability have largely been neglected in school-based health promotion efforts. This review examines the effects of school-based physical activity interventions on academic, cognitive, and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents living with any type of disability (eg, intellectual, physical, behavioral). Methods: Six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, and Embase) were searched from inception to September 2024. Studies were included if they: (1) examined children or adolescents (5–18 y) living with disability, (2) included an experimental or quasi-experimental study design, (3) delivered a school-based physical activity intervention, and (4) examined at least one academic, cognitive, or mental health outcome. Multilevel meta-analyses were conducted to examine intervention effects. Prespecified moderators were also examined. Results: Thirty-three studies involving 1454 children and adolescents living with disability were included. Significant effects were found for cognitive (g = 0.42; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.62) and mental health (g = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.94) outcomes, but not for academic outcomes. Disability classification, intervention length, and physical activity type significantly moderated intervention effects. Conclusions: School-based physical activity programs for children and adolescents with disability can improve measures of cognition and mental health, but not academic performance. Most studies examined children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and few were conducted with adolescents which may limit generalizability of study findings. More high-quality research with robust study designs and larger more diverse samples are needed.

Although adolescents' Physical Activity (PA) levels are associated with various benefits, PA participation rates remain low. Previous studies have revealed that one of the psychological factors that may have a significant impact on adolescents' PA and participation in Physical Education and Sport (PES) is perceived variety-support. The aim of this study is to examine the serial mediation role of enjoyment and motivation in the relationship between variety-support and participation in PES. For this purpose, firstly, the “The Perceived Variety-Support in Physical Education Scale (PVSPES)” developed by Eather et al. (2022) adapted to Turkish and applied to middle school (n=561) and high school (n=457) samples. CFA results showed that the Turkish version of the PVSPES was measurement invariant across gender and educational level. The study, which examined the serial mediation role of enjoyment and motivation in the relationship between variety-support and participation, was conducted using structural equation modeling with a sample of 1018 (532 female, 486 male) middle school (n=561) and high school (n=457) students. The findings of the study revealed that students' perceptions of variety-support in the PES had a significant positive direct effect on course participation. It was found that enjoyment (b = .086, BootSE = .014, 95% CI [.059, .115]) and motivation (b = .061, BootSE = .012, 95% CI [.039, .087]) mediated the relationship between variety-support and participation. The serial mediation model revealed that the serial mediation effect of enjoyment and motivation was significant in the effect of students' perception of variety-support on participation (b= .087, BootSE= .011, 95% CI [.067, .109]). As a result, it was found that students' perception of variety-support in PES increases enjoyment and motivation towards the courses, and as a result, both factors positively affect course participation through serial mediation. Offering a variety of activities to students in PES will increase their enjoyment and motivation towards the course and contribute positively to their course participation.

To investigate the impact of rugby union coaching practices on athlete outcomes including performance, wellbeing and engagement. A systematic search was conducted of 10 electronic databases using the search strings (rugby*) AND (coach*). Consistent across various contexts (countries, age groups, school, club, representative, professional) findings from included qualitative (n = 18) and quantitative (n = 11) studies indicated that game-based coaching approaches improve rugby player performance, with contextualized and representative training activities being particularly effective. Our findings also support that coaching behaviors, personalised relationships and autonomy impact player engagement and wellbeing. By applying game-based coaching approaches to instructional design and adopting recommended coaching behaviours, coaches can positively influence the performance, wellbeing and engagement of rugby players. Given the limited available studies and the risk of bias arising from the inclusion of a researcher-coach in many studies, further experimental studies across varied contexts and with more female coaches and players are required.