Gaelic4Girls-The Effectiveness of a 10-Week Multicomponent Community Sports-Based Physical Activity Intervention for 8 to 12-Year-Old Girls

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-09, Vol.17 (18), p.6928
• Main Authors: Farmer, Orlagh, Cahill, Kevin, O'Brien, Wesley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Child; Child development; Children; Children & youth; Consent; Data collection; Elementary schools; Exercise; Female; Gaelic football; Girls; Health Promotion; Humans; Intervention; Ireland; Participation; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Psychological factors; Residence Characteristics; Skills; Team Sports; Variance analysis; Youth Sports
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17186928

Girls are less active than boys throughout childhood and adolescence, with limited research focusing on female community sports-based programs. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a multi-component, community sports-based intervention for increasing girl's physical activity (PA) levels, fundamental movement skill (FMS) proficiency, and psychological wellbeing, as relative to a second treatment group (the traditionally delivered national comparative program), and a third control group. One hundred and twenty female-only participants (mean age = 10.75 ± 1.44 years), aged 8 to 12 years old from three Ladies Gaelic Football (LGF) community sports clubs (rural and suburban) were allocated to one of three conditions: (1) Intervention Group 1 (n = 43) received a novel, specifically tailored, research-informed Gaelic4Girls (G4G) intervention; (2) Intervention Group 2 (n = 44) used the traditionally delivered, national G4G program, as run by the Ladies Gaelic Football (LGF) Association of Ireland; and (3) Control Group 3 (n = 33) received no G4G intervention (group 1 or 2) conditions and were expected to carry out their usual LGF community sports activities. Primary outcome measurements (at both pre- and 10-week follow up) examining the effectiveness of the G4G intervention included (1) PA, (2) FMS and (3) Psychological correlates (enjoyment levels, self-efficacy, peer and parental support). Following a two (pre to post) by three (intervention group 1, intervention group 2, and control group 3) mixed-model ANOVA, it was highlighted that intervention group 1 significantly increased in PA ( = 0.003), FMS proficiency ( = 0.005) and several psychological correlates of PA ( ≤ 0.005). The findings demonstrate that the 10-week, specifically tailored, research-informed G4G intervention is a feasible and efficacious program, leading to a positive effect on the physical and psychological wellbeing of pre-adolescent Irish girls, relative to the traditionally delivered national G4G comparative program and control group conditions.