Development and evaluation of the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation to deliver Physical Activity in School Scale (COM-PASS).

BACKGROUND: Teachers are recognized as 'key agents' for the delivery of physical activity programs and policies in schools. The aim of our study was to develop and evaluate a tool to assess teachers' capability, opportunity, and motivation to deliver school-based physical activity interventions. METHODS: The development and evaluation of the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation to deliver Physical Activity in School Scale (COM-PASS) involved three phases. In Phase 1, we invited academic experts to participate in a Delphi study to rate, provide recommendations, and achieve consensus on questionnaire items that were based on the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Behavior (COM-B) model. Each item was ranked on the degree to which it matched the content of the COM-B model, using a 5-point scale ranging from '1 = Poor match' to '5 = Excellent match'. In Phase 2, we interviewed primary and secondary school teachers using a 'think-aloud' approach to assess their understanding of the items. In Phase 3, teachers (n = 196) completed the COM-PASS to assess structural validity using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). RESULTS: Thirty-eight academic experts from 14 countries completed three rounds of the Delphi study. In the first round, items had an average rating score of 4.04, in the second round 4.51, and in the third (final) round 4.78. The final tool included 14 items, which related to the six constructs of the COM-B model: physical capability, psychological capability, physical opportunity, social opportunity, reflective motivation, and automatic motivation. In Phase 2, ten teachers shared their interpretation of COM-PASS via a 20-min interview, which resulted in minor changes. In Phase 3, CFA of the 3-factor model (i.e., capability, opportunity, and motivation) revealed an adequate fit to the data (χ2 = 122.6, p < .001, CFI = .945, TLI = .924, RMSEA = .066). The internal consistencies of the three subscale scores were acceptable (i.e., capability: α = .75, opportunity: α = .75, motivation: α = .81). CONCLUSION: COM-PASS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing teachers' capability, opportunity, and motivation to deliver physical activity interventions in schools. Further studies examining additional psychometric properties of the COM-PASS are warranted.

The quality of dietary intake methodology and reporting in child and adolescent obesity intervention trials: a systematic review.

Assessing dietary intake is important in evaluating childhood obesity intervention effectiveness. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the dietary intake methods and reporting in intervention studies that included a dietary component to treat overweight or obese children. A systematic review of studies published in the English language, between 1985 and August 2010 in health databases. The search identified 2,295 papers, of which 335 were retrieved and 31 met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-three studies reported energy intake as an outcome measure, 20 reported macronutrient intakes and 10 studies reported food intake outcomes. The most common dietary method employed was the food diary (n = 13), followed by 24-h recall (n = 5), food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (n = 4) and dietary questionnaire (n = 4). The quality of the dietary intake methods reporting was rated as 'poor' in 15 studies (52%) and only 3 were rated as 'excellent'. The reporting quality of FFQs tended to be higher than food diaries/recalls. Deficiencies in the quality of dietary intake methods reporting in child obesity studies were identified. Use of a dietary intake methods reporting checklist is recommended. This will enable the quality of dietary intake results to be evaluated, and an increased ability to replicate study methodology by other researchers.

Describing weight status and fitness in a community sample of children attending after-school programming.

Although the body of research on public-health aspects of after-school programs is growing, little is known with regard to physical fitness levels of attending children. The purpose of this study was to describe the health-related fitness in a community sample (N.=826) of under-served children attending after-school programming. Health-related fitness was assessed via Fitnessgram(R) and body mass index. In this population, numerous children failed to meet national standards for the push-up (54%), curl-up (24%) and pacer (47%) tests. Many of those failing to meet national standards were unable to perform a single push-up (32%), or curl-up (12%), and over half (51%) of the children were overweight or obese. Significant differences by race/ethnicity, gender, and weight status emerged for some fitness measures. Based on these data, fitness aspects beyond weight status should be considered when designing PA programs for children, especially those in communities of underserved youth.

The effect of condoms in sexually explicit narratives on male sexual arousal.

Research into why people choose not to use condoms despite a growing AIDS epidemic has tapped the attitude that the use of condoms somehow interferes with the progression of the sexual act or lessens sexual pleasure. The current study investigated the effects on male sexual arousal of condom use described in sexually explicit audiotaped narratives. The sexual arousal of 14 male university students was measured physiologically by penile plethysmography and by self-report using a within-subjects design. Subjects listened to 10 audiotaped scripts, half of which included the use of a condom and half of which did not. No significant differences in either physiological or subjective arousal data were found between conditions.

PIP: It has been speculated that some people who choose not to use condoms in the context of a growing AIDS pandemic do so because condom use interferes with the progression of the sexual act or lessens sexual pleasure. 14 male students in undergraduate psychology courses at the University of North Dakota volunteered to listen to sexually explicit audiotaped narratives in a study of male sexual arousal in the context of condom use. 20 audio scripts based upon 10 sexually explicit scenarios were used in the study. Each approximately two-minute long script depicted sexual interactions culminating in sexual intercourse between an adult male and an adult female. Ten scripts depicted scenarios involving no condom use. Modified versions of these scripts included condom use, thereby comprising the other 10 scenarios. The scripts were recorded on standard audiotapes by an adult female not connected with the study. Each volunteer was placed alone in a room furnished with only a reclining chair, a pair of stereo headphones, and a Likert scale mounted on a wall four feet from the chair. The young men were told how to apply and calibrate the Parks Medical Electronics, Inc. model 240-A mercury-in-rubber strain gauge plethysmograph, a device capable of measuring slight changes in penile circumference. Each subject then alternately heard 10 randomly selected scripts, half involving condom use and half not. Physiological data on penile response while listening to the tapes were collected via Advanced CODAS software and stored individually for each subject on a Gateway computer. Each subject also reported upon his sexual arousal. No significant differences were observed in physiologically and subjectively assessed patterns of male sexual arousal between the condom-present and condom-absent conditions. The brief description of putting on a condom within a sexually explicit audiotaped narrative had neither detrimental nor enhancing effects upon male sexual arousal. That condoms and condom use truly have no effect upon male sexual arousal is, however, only one of many possible explanations for these findings.