Motivating playgrounds: understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens

Thea Toft Amholt; Birgitte Westerskov Dalgas; Jenny Veitch; Nikos Ntoumanis; Jeanette Fich Jespersen; Jasper Schipperijn; Charlotte Pawlowski

doi:10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085

Motivating playgrounds: understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens

Thea Toft Amholt^*, Birgitte Westerskov Dalgas, Jenny Veitch, Nikos Ntoumanis, Jeanette Fich Jespersen, Jasper Schipperijn, Charlotte Pawlowski

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

58 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

PURPOSE: Physical activity (PA) is an important factor contributing to general health. PA declines rapidly during tween years (9-12 years) when children's social world changes. School playgrounds can contribute substantially to children's PA, but little is known about how to motivate tweens to use school playgrounds. Using the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) proposed by the Self-Determination Theory, this qualitative study aimed to investigate how school playgrounds can support tweens' needs.

METHODS: Tweens (n = 56) participated in focus group go-along interviews in their school playground.

RESULTS: We found that tweens needed a variety of play possibilities (autonomy) that challenged their skills (competence) as well as areas to retract and be with friends (relatedness).

CONCLUSION: This research highlights the importance of incorporating tweens' perspectives in playground design to attract and retain them in play and PA in school playgrounds.

Original language	English
Article number	2096085
Journal	International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being
Volume	17
Issue number	1
Number of pages	13
ISSN	1748-2623
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085
Publication status	Published - Dec 2022

Keywords

Adolescent
Child
Exercise
Humans
Personal Autonomy
Polysorbates
Schools

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10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085Licence: CC BY

Open access versionFinal published version, 1.81 MBLicence: CC BY

1 Ph.D. thesis

Motivating Playgrounds
Amholt, T. T., 24. Oct 2022, Syddansk Universitet. Det Sundhedsvidenskabelige Fakultet. 217 p.
Research output: Thesis › Ph.D. thesis

Open Access
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1 Finished

Motivating Playgrounds
Amholt, T. T. (PhD student) & Schipperijn, J. (Supervisor)
01/02/2020 → 01/02/2023
Project: PhD Project

Cite this

Toft Amholt, T., Westerskov Dalgas, B., Veitch, J., Ntoumanis, N., Fich Jespersen, J., Schipperijn, J., & Pawlowski, C. (2022). Motivating playgrounds: understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 17(1), Article 2096085. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085

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title = "Motivating playgrounds: understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens",

abstract = "PURPOSE: Physical activity (PA) is an important factor contributing to general health. PA declines rapidly during tween years (9-12 years) when children's social world changes. School playgrounds can contribute substantially to children's PA, but little is known about how to motivate tweens to use school playgrounds. Using the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) proposed by the Self-Determination Theory, this qualitative study aimed to investigate how school playgrounds can support tweens' needs.METHODS: Tweens (n = 56) participated in focus group go-along interviews in their school playground.RESULTS: We found that tweens needed a variety of play possibilities (autonomy) that challenged their skills (competence) as well as areas to retract and be with friends (relatedness).CONCLUSION: This research highlights the importance of incorporating tweens' perspectives in playground design to attract and retain them in play and PA in school playgrounds.",

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author = "{Toft Amholt}, Thea and {Westerskov Dalgas}, Birgitte and Jenny Veitch and Nikos Ntoumanis and {Fich Jespersen}, Jeanette and Jasper Schipperijn and Charlotte Pawlowski",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

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Toft Amholt, T, Westerskov Dalgas, B, Veitch, J, Ntoumanis, N, Fich Jespersen, J, Schipperijn, J & Pawlowski, C 2022, 'Motivating playgrounds: understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens', International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, vol. 17, no. 1, 2096085. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085

Motivating playgrounds: understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens. / Toft Amholt, Thea; Westerskov Dalgas, Birgitte; Veitch, Jenny et al.
In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2096085, 12.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Motivating playgrounds

T2 - understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens

AU - Toft Amholt, Thea

AU - Westerskov Dalgas, Birgitte

AU - Veitch, Jenny

AU - Ntoumanis, Nikos

AU - Fich Jespersen, Jeanette

AU - Schipperijn, Jasper

AU - Pawlowski, Charlotte

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - PURPOSE: Physical activity (PA) is an important factor contributing to general health. PA declines rapidly during tween years (9-12 years) when children's social world changes. School playgrounds can contribute substantially to children's PA, but little is known about how to motivate tweens to use school playgrounds. Using the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) proposed by the Self-Determination Theory, this qualitative study aimed to investigate how school playgrounds can support tweens' needs.METHODS: Tweens (n = 56) participated in focus group go-along interviews in their school playground.RESULTS: We found that tweens needed a variety of play possibilities (autonomy) that challenged their skills (competence) as well as areas to retract and be with friends (relatedness).CONCLUSION: This research highlights the importance of incorporating tweens' perspectives in playground design to attract and retain them in play and PA in school playgrounds.

AB - PURPOSE: Physical activity (PA) is an important factor contributing to general health. PA declines rapidly during tween years (9-12 years) when children's social world changes. School playgrounds can contribute substantially to children's PA, but little is known about how to motivate tweens to use school playgrounds. Using the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) proposed by the Self-Determination Theory, this qualitative study aimed to investigate how school playgrounds can support tweens' needs.METHODS: Tweens (n = 56) participated in focus group go-along interviews in their school playground.RESULTS: We found that tweens needed a variety of play possibilities (autonomy) that challenged their skills (competence) as well as areas to retract and be with friends (relatedness).CONCLUSION: This research highlights the importance of incorporating tweens' perspectives in playground design to attract and retain them in play and PA in school playgrounds.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Child

KW - Exercise

KW - Humans

KW - Personal Autonomy

KW - Polysorbates

KW - Schools

U2 - 10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085

DO - 10.1080/17482631.2022.2096085

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35786205

SN - 1748-2623

VL - 17

JO - International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being

JF - International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being

IS - 1

M1 - 2096085

ER -

Motivating playgrounds: understanding how school playgrounds support autonomy, competence, and relatedness of tweens

Abstract

Keywords

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