Children's enjoyment of play during school lunchtime breaks : An examination of intraday and interday reliability
- Authors: Hyndman, Brendon , Telford, Amanda , Ullah, Shahid , Benson, Amanda , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Physical Activity & Health Vol. 11, no. 1 (January 2014 2014), p. 109-117
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Enjoyment and play during school lunchtime are correlated with children's physical activity. Despite this, there is an absence of studies reporting children's enjoyment of play during school lunchtime breaks. The purpose of this study was to examine the intraday and interday reliability of children's enjoyment of school lunchtime play. Methods: Surveys used to assess children's enjoyment of lunchtime play were distributed to and completed by 197 children (112 males, 85 females), aged 8-12 years attending an elementary school in Victoria, Australia. Children completed the surveys during class before lunch (expected enjoyment) and after lunch (actual enjoyment) for 5 days. The intra- and interday enjoyment of school lunchtime play reliability were determined using a weighted kappa. Results: Intraday kappa values ranged from fair (0.31) to substantial (0.75) within each of the 5 days (median kappa = 0.41). In comparison, "expected" (0.09-0.40; median 0.30) and "actual" (0.05-0.46; median 0.28) interday enjoyment of lunchtime play displayed low reliability. Conclusions: Children's enjoyment of lunchtime play appears to be more consistent within days than across days. The findings suggest that assessment of children's enjoyment of lunchtime play once on a single day would be representative of a particular day but not necessarily that particular school week.
The Development of the Lunchtime Enjoyment of Activity and Play Questionnaire
- Authors: Hyndman, Brendon , Telford, Amanda , Finch, Caroline , Ullah, Shahid , Benson, Amanda
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of School Health Vol. 83, no. 4 (2013), p. 256-264
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Enjoyment of physical activity is as an important determinant of children's participation in physical activity. Despite this, there is an absence of reliable measures for assessing children's enjoyment of play activities during school lunchtime. The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the reliability of the Lunchtime Enjoyment of Activity and Play (LEAP) Questionnaire. Methods: Questionnaire items were categorized employing a social-ecological framework including intrapersonal (20 items), interpersonal (2 items), and physical environment/policy (17 items) components to identify the broader influences on children's enjoyment. An identical questionnaire was administered on 2 occasions, 10days apart, to 176 children aged 8-12years, attending a government elementary school in regional Victoria, Australia. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability confirmed that 35 of 39 LEAP Questionnaire items had at least moderate kappa agreement ranging from .44 to .78. Although 4 individual kappa values were low, median kappa scores for each aggregated social-ecological component reached at least moderate agreement (.44-.60). Conclusions: This study confirms the LEAP Questionnaire to be a reliable, context-specific instrument with sound content, and face validity that employs a social-ecological framework to assess children's enjoyment of school play and lunchtime activities. © 2013, American School Health Association.
- Description: 2003010857