University of Minnesota.
Texas State University.
Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2020 Jul 2;32(3):172-182. doi: 10.1123/pes.2019-0252.
Girls on the Run (GOTR), a physical activity-based positive youth development program, uses running as a platform to teach life skills and promote healthy behaviors. In this companion paper of our comprehensive project, the authors evaluated program impact on positive youth development by comparing GOTR participants to youth in other organized activities (Sport and physical education [PE]) on life skills transfer and social processes. Qualitative methods complemented quantitative data through interviews with GOTR stakeholders.
The participants included 215 girls in GOTR and 692 girls in the same grades and schools who did not participate in GOTR (Sport = 485; PE = 207). They completed self-report measures of life skills transfer, peer and coach relatedness, and coach autonomy support at the season's end. GOTR subsamples of girls, coaches, caregivers, and school personnel participated in focus groups.
Girls in GOTR compared favorably to the Sport and PE girls on all life skills-managing emotions, resolving conflicts, helping others, and making intentional decisions-and to the PE girls for all 3 social processes. The GOTR and Sport girls did not differ on coach relatedness and autonomy support, but the Sport girls rated teammate relatedness higher. The GOTR girls' scores on life skills transfer remained stable at a 3-month follow-up assessment. Stakeholders in the focus groups shared corroborating evidence that, through participating in GOTR, girls learn skills that generalize to school and home contexts.
Using comparison groups, a retention assessment, and mixed methods, the findings provide evidence that GOTR is effective in teaching skills and strategies that generalize to broader life domains. The processes that explain group differences on life skills transfer include GOTR's intentional curriculum of skill-building activities delivered by coaches within a caring and autonomy-supportive climate.
Girls on the Run（GOTR）是一个基于身体活动的积极青少年发展项目，它利用跑步作为平台，教授生活技能并促进健康行为。在本项目的配套文件中，作者通过将 GOTR 参与者与其他组织活动（体育和体育教育[PE]）中的青年进行比较，评估了该项目对积极青少年发展的影响，比较的方面包括生活技能转移和社会过程。通过对 GOTR 利益相关者的访谈，定性方法补充了定量数据。
参与者包括 215 名参加 GOTR 的女孩和 692 名同年级和学校但未参加 GOTR 的女孩（体育=485；PE=207）。她们在赛季结束时完成了生活技能转移、同伴和教练关系以及教练自主支持的自我报告测量。GOTR 的女孩、教练、照顾者和学校人员的子样本参加了焦点小组。
与体育和 PE 女孩相比，GOTR 的女孩在所有生活技能方面表现出色——管理情绪、解决冲突、帮助他人和做出明智的决定——并且在所有 3 个社会过程方面都优于 PE 女孩。GOTR 和体育女孩在教练关系和自主支持方面没有差异，但体育女孩对队友关系的评价更高。在 3 个月的随访评估中，GOTR 女孩的生活技能转移得分保持稳定。焦点小组的利益相关者分享了佐证证据，即通过参加 GOTR，女孩们学会了将技能和策略推广到学校和家庭环境的技能。
使用对照组、保留评估和混合方法，研究结果提供了证据，表明 GOTR 能够有效地教授可推广到更广泛生活领域的技能和策略。解释生活技能转移群体差异的过程包括 GOTR 的有计划的技能建设活动课程，这些活动由教练在关怀和自主支持的氛围中进行。
