Abstract
Objectives
SOFIT+ is an observation tool to measure teacher practices related to moderate-to-vigorous
physical activity (MVPA) promotion during physical education (PE). The objective of
the study was to examine the validity of SOFIT+ during high school PE lessons.
Design
This cross-sectional, observational study tested the construct validity of SOFIT+
in boys’ and girls’ high school PE lessons.
Methods
Twenty-one PE lessons were video-recorded and retrospectively coded using SOFIT+.
Students wore hip-mounted accelerometers during lessons as an objective measure of
MVPA. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the likelihood of students
engaging in MVPA during different teacher practices represented by observed individual
codes and a combined SOFIT+ index-score.
Results
Fourteen individual SOFIT+ variables demonstrated a statistically significant relationship
with girls’ and boys’ MVPA. Observed lesson segments identified as high MVPA-promoting
were related to an increased likelihood of girls engaging in 5–10 (OR = 2.86 [95% CI 2.41–3.40]), 15–25 (OR = 7.41 [95% CI 6.05–9.06]), and 30–40 (OR = 22.70 [95% CI 16.97–30.37]) s of MVPA. For boys, observed high-MVPA promoting segments were related to an increased
likelihood of engaging in 5–10 (OR = 1.71 [95% CI 1.45–2.01]), 15–25 (OR = 2.69 [95% CI 2.31–3.13]) and 30–40 (OR = 4.26 [95% CI 3.44–5.29]) s of MVPA.
Conclusions
Teacher practices during high school PE lessons are significantly related to students’
participation in MVPA. SOFIT+ is a valid and reliable tool to examine relationships
between PE teacher practices and student MVPA during PE.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 02, 2017
Accepted:
September 22,
2017
Received in revised form:
August 24,
2017
Received:
May 24,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
