College of Public Health and Human Sciences, School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, Kinesiology Program, Oregon State University, Milam Hall 118L, 2520 SW Campus Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, 80639, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2018 Mar 22;18(1):394. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5295-y.
Physical activity (PA) remains the primary behavioral outcome associated with school recess, while many other potentially relevant indicators of recess remain unexamined. Few studies have assessed observations of teacher/student interactions, peer conflict, social interactions, or safety within the recess environment. Furthermore, a psychometrically-sound instrument does not exist to examine safety, resources, student engagement, adult engagement, pro-social/anti-social behavior, and student empowerment on the playground. The purpose of the current study was to develop a valid, and reliable, assessment tool intended for use in measurement of the contextual factors associated with recess.
An iterative and multi-step process was used to develop a tool that measures safety and structure, adult engagement and supervision, student behaviors, and transitions at recess. Exploratory structural equation modeling (Mplus v. 7.4) was used to examine the underlying measurement model with observational data of the recess environment collected at 649 school-based recess periods that spanned across 22 urban/metropolitan areas in the USA. Data were also collected by two researchers at 162 recess sessions across 9 schools to examine reliability.
A 17-item observation instrument, the Great Recess Framework - Observational Tool (GRF-OT), was created. Findings of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analyses supported factorial validity for a 4-factor solution and linear regressions established convergent validity where 'structure and safety', 'adult engagement and supervision', and 'student behaviors' were all significantly related to observed activity levels. Each sub-scale of the GRF-OT showed adequate levels of inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability analysis indicated a higher level of stability for the GRF-OT when using a three-day average across two time points as compared to a two-day average.
Initial evidence for a valid, and reliable, assessment tool to observationally measure the recess environment with a specific focus on safety, resources, student engagement, adult engagement, pro-social/anti-social behavior, and student empowerment was established in this study. Use of the GRF-OT can inspire evaluation, and subsequent intervention, to strategically create consistent, appropriate, and engaging school recess that impact children's physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.
体力活动（PA）仍然是与课间休息相关的主要行为结果，而许多其他潜在相关的课间休息指标仍未得到检验。很少有研究评估教师/学生互动、同伴冲突、社交互动或课间休息环境中的安全性。此外，没有一种心理测量上可靠的工具来检查操场上的安全、资源、学生参与度、成人参与度、亲社会/反社会行为和学生赋权。本研究的目的是开发一种有效和可靠的评估工具，用于测量与课间休息相关的背景因素。
采用迭代和多步骤的方法开发了一种工具，用于测量课间休息时的安全性和结构、成人参与度和监督、学生行为以及过渡情况。采用探索性结构方程建模（Mplus v. 7.4）对从美国 22 个城市/大都市区的 649 个学校课间休息时段收集的观察数据进行了潜在测量模型的检验。还由两位研究人员在 9 所学校的 162 个课间休息时段收集了数据，以检验可靠性。
创建了一个 17 项观察工具，即大课间休息框架-观察工具（GRF-OT）。探索性结构方程建模（ESEM）分析的结果支持了 4 因素解决方案的因子有效性，线性回归确定了收敛有效性，其中“结构和安全性”、“成人参与度和监督”以及“学生行为”与观察到的活动水平均显著相关。GRF-OT 的每个子量表都表现出足够的评分者间信度，测试-重测分析表明，与使用两天平均值相比，当使用三天平均值时，GRF-OT 具有更高的稳定性。
本研究初步证明了一种有效和可靠的评估工具，用于观察性测量课间休息环境，特别关注安全、资源、学生参与度、成人参与度、亲社会/反社会行为和学生赋权。GRF-OT 的使用可以激发评估，并随后进行干预，以战略性地创建一致、适当和吸引人的学校课间休息，从而影响儿童的身体、认知、社会和情感发展。
