AzTrials
AzTrials

Physical ActivityScIMNCT03817047

The Effect of Increased Physical Activity on Adolescents' Health and Academic Performance: The School in Motion Study

A study testing Physical education, Physical active learning and Physical activity in people with Physical Activity and Academic Achievement, run by Norwegian School of Sport Sciences at 1 site in Norway.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

This study evaluates the effect of 120 minutes extra of physical education (PE) or physical activity (PA) on adolescents' physical health, mental health, academic performance and learning environment. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
What is being tested?
Physical education, Physical active learning and Physical activity
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
2,045 participants
Where
1 siteNorway
Study dates
3 Apr 2017to 22 Jun 2018
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages Any age
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Subjects enrolled in 9th grade

Who cannot join

  • None

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Norway1 site
  • Norwegian School of Sport Sciences

    Oslo, 0852

Other trials in Norway

About this study

Official title: A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effect of Increased Physical Education and Physical Activity on Adolescents' Physical and Mental Health, Academic Performance and Learning Environment

This study evaluates the effect of 120 minutes extra of physical education (PE) or physical activity (PA) on adolescents' physical health, mental health, academic performance and learning environment. This is a cluster-randomized controlled trial with three arms, where the participants in two of the groups will have different models of increased PE/PA during the school week, whereas the participants in the third arm is the control group including current practice.

Read the detailed description

This is a school-based, three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) recruiting adolescents from secondary schools in Norway. Adolescents (aged 14-15 years) were the unit of analysis, and schools (clusters) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions:

  1. the physical active learning group (PAL-group), where the schools each week include one additional physical education (PE) lesson, 30 minutes of physical active learning, and 30 minutes of physical activity (intervention condition);
  2. the don't worry - be happy group (DWBH-group), where the schools include one new activity class (60 minutes: Be Happy class) and one additional PE-class (60 minutes: Don't Worry class) per week (intervention condition);or
  3. current practice (control condition). An identical set of outcome measures are taken from all participants at baseline, and approximately 12 months after the baseline measures, when the participants were at the end of year 9
Being tested
Physical education, Physical active learning, Physical activity, Be happy
Keywords
Adolescents, Physical activity, Physical fitness, Academic performance, Cluster RCT, Mental health, Secondary school, Physical education, Physical active educational lessons, Accelerometer
Medical subject headings
Motor Activity, Psychological Well-Being

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Physical educationBehavioural

    Also called PE-intervention

    Physical education (60 minutes): In addition to the ordinary PE-lessons. The pedagogical activities taught in this lesson should be in line with the curriculum of 9th grade and led by the PE-teacher. In the Don't worry - be happy intervention this class was also organized by the students. The students practiced their Be Happy-activities, or they introduced their class peers to their "Be Happy"-activity. A PE-teacher was present to support the students if necessary.

  • Physical active learningBehavioural

    The curriculum of the subjects (i.e. maths, English, Norwegian) were taught in a physically active manner. The lesson should last 30 minutes and be led by the teacher of the current subject.

  • Physical activityBehavioural

    Without a connection to any specific subject "Physical activity" should be performed as 30 minutes a week. There are no specific aims to be taught in this lesson, but physical activities that stimulates mastery, joy and well-being should be in focus.

  • Be happyBehavioural

    The Be Happy classes were self-organized activity groups of at least three students, developed according to activity preferences across regular classes. The Be Happy groups practiced traditional sports and physical activities, lifestyle sports, dancing, out-door recreation, drama etc. - inside or outside school.

Study groups in NCT03817047
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Physical active learning (PAL)ExperimentalThree components: 1. Physical education (60 minutes) 2. Physical active learning (30 minutes) 3. Physical activity (30 minutes)
Receives: Behavioral: Physical education; Behavioral: Physical active learning; Behavioral: Physical activity
Don't worry - be happyExperimentalTwo components: 1. Physical education (60 minutes) - don't worry class 2. Physical activity (60 minutes) - be happy class
Receives: Behavioral: Physical education; Behavioral: Be happy
Control groupNo interventionCurrent practice

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Mean physical activity level

    The participants mean physical activity level measured by accelerometers

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

Secondary outcomes (15)
  1. Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)

    Mean minutes spent in MVPA per day

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  2. Time spent sedentary

    Mean minutes spent sedentary each day, measured both objectively using accelerometers

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  3. Sedentary behaviour

    Self-reported in a questionnaire. There are questions related to minutes spent in front of a screen. The answers are categorized into seven alternatives ranging from "No time at all" to "More than 6 hours per day". There are also questions about which screen activity they perform. The answers are categorized into six alternatives ranging from "No time at all" to "More than 3 hours per day". There are also questions about time spent doing homework. The answers are categorized into nine alternatives ranging from "No time at all" to " More than 7 hours per day".

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  4. Upper limb strength

    Handgrip strength using a hand dynamometer. The participants will use the dominant hand, with the arm completely extended and squeeze the dynamometer with maximum isometric effort, for about 2-3 seconds.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  5. Explosive strength in the lower body

    Standing broad jump. The participants will stand behind a line with feet slightly apart. They will be instructed to perform a two-foot take-off and landing, and to jump as far as possible, landing on both feet without falling backwards. The distance from the take-off line to the nearest point of contact on the landing (back of the heels) will be measured, and the better of two attempts will be used for analyses.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  6. Abdominal muscle endurance

    Abdominal muscular endurance will be measured by a sit-up test. The participant will start in a lying position with hands clasped behind the neck, knees bent at a 45° angle with the heels and feet flat on the floor and held down by the tester. The subject then rise to a position with the elbows pointed forward until they touched the knees. The total number of correctly performed and completed sit-ups within 30 seconds is counted.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  7. Cardiorespiratory fitness

    Intermittent running test. Participants run for 10 minutes, and the distance covered (in meters) is recorded.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  8. Academic performance in reading

    Specific standardized Norwegian National tests in reading.The test is designed and administrated by The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 9 months

  9. Academic performance in numeracy

    Specific standardized Norwegian National tests in numeracy. The test is designed and administrated by The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 9 months

  10. Overall psychosocial problems and strengths

    Assessed with the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). This is a short screening instrument consisting of 25 items equally divided across five scales measuring emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention, peer problems, and prosocial behavior.

    Each statement is answered as "Not true", "Somewhat true" and "Certainly true". Some questions have reversed form, which is reversed in the scoring of the instrument. Replies were scored from 0 to 2, and the subscales are summed to a score ranging from 0-10 for each subscale. Added together, the first four scores generate a total difficulties score, ranging from 0 to 40. Higher scores indicate more problems.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  11. Adolescents' subjective health and well-being

    Adolescent's subjective health and well-being is assessed using the Kidscreen-27 questionnaire. The instrument consists of 27 items covering the following five quality of life dimensions: 1) physical well-being (5 items), 2) psychological well-being (7 items), 3) parents/guardians relations \& autonomy (7 items), 4) social support \& peers (4 items), and 5) school environment (5 items).

    The questions are answered on a 5-point likert scale. Scores can be created for each of the five dimensions. The methodology given in the developers manual will be used to obtain the T-scores; mean (±SD) scores of 50 ± 10 define normality for children and adolescents aged 8-18 years across Europe. Higher scores indicate a better health-related quality of life.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  12. The adolescents domain specific self-evaluation of competence or adequacy

    Assessed through Harter's Self-perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA). The instrument consists of seven subscales covering the following domains: 1) scholastic competence, 2) social competence, 3) athletic competence, 4) physical appearance, 5) job competence, 6) close friendship, and 7) romantic appeal.

    Each subscale contains four items, each having four options: 1 (Describes me very poorly), 2 (Describes me fairly poorly), 3 (Describes me fairly well), and 4 (Describes me very well), providing a mean score of perceived competence in that area, ranging from 1 (lowest level of self-esteem) to 4 (highest level of self-esteem).

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  13. Symptoms of anxiety and depression

    Assessed by the short version of Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-10). HSCL-10 consists of 10 symptoms or problems that people sometimes have in which adolescents answered how much the symptoms have bothered or distressed them during the last week.

    All 10 questions have 4 response categories: 'Not at all', 'A little', 'Quite a bit' and 'Extremely'. The responses are summarized across all items and the mean score is used as a measure of psychological distress. Higher values indicates higher psychological distress.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  14. Learning environment in the classroom

    The Classroom Climate Scale is used to assess learning environment. This instrument consist of 22 questions related to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, anticipation and teacher-student relations.

    All questions are answered on a four-point scale: "Strongly agree", "Somewhat agree", "Somewhat disagree", "Strongly disagree". All points are summed to a total score. Higher scores indicates higher classroom environment.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

  15. School environment

    Learning environment at school in general is self-reported in a questionnaire. It consist of three separate questions, and the questions are answered on a 7-point likert scale ranging from "totally disagree" to "totally agree". A mean score from the three questions will be made, and a higher score indicates better school environment.

    Measured: Measured baseline and after 12 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted25 Jan 2019
  2. Study start3 Apr 2017
  3. Primary completion22 Jun 2018
  4. Study completion22 Jun 2018

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
This is a cluster-randomized trial with three parallel arms
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
2,045 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03817047
Sponsor's protocol ID
2207ScIM
Acronym
ScIM
Status last verified
Jan 2019
First submitted
14 Jan 2019
Last updated
28 Jan 2019
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: De-identified individual participant data for all primary and secondary outcome measures will be made available.

Publications

  • Malnes L, Haugen T, Nordbo ECA, Ivarsson A, Kolle E, Resaland GK, Solberg RB, Avitsland A, Berntsen S. Objectively measured environmental factors in relation to school travel mode among adolescents: a decision tree analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2025 Mar 4;22(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s12966-025-01727-6.

    PubMed 40038743
  • Malnes L, Berntsen S, Kolle E, Ivarsson A, Dyrstad SM, Resaland GK, Solberg R, Haugen T. School-based physical activity in relation to active travel - a cluster randomized controlled trial among adolescents enrolled in the school in motion study in Norway. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2023 Nov 21;20(1):136. doi: 10.1186/s12966-023-01534-x.

    PubMed 37990252
  • Leibinger E, Avitsland A, Resaland GK, Solberg RB, Kolle E, Dyrstad SM. Relationship between health-related quality of life and physical fitness in Norwegian adolescents. Qual Life Res. 2023 Apr;32(4):1133-1141. doi: 10.1007/s11136-022-03309-6. Epub 2022 Dec 17.

    PubMed 36527570
  • Malnes L, Haugen T, Hansen BH, Kolle E, Berntsen S. Establishing the Convergent Validity of the Travel Habit Questions in the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children Questionnaire by Quantifying Active Travel in Norwegian Adolescents. Front Sports Act Living. 2022 Apr 6;4:761723. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.761723. eCollection 2022.

    PubMed 35463834
  • Neil-Sztramko SE, Caldwell H, Dobbins M. School-based physical activity programs for promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Sep 23;9(9):CD007651. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007651.pub3.

    PubMed 34555181
  • Solberg RB, Steene-Johannessen J, Anderssen SA, Ekelund U, Safvenbom R, Haugen T, Berntsen S, Avitsland A, Lerum O, Resaland GK, Kolle E. Effects of a school-based physical activity intervention on academic performance in 14-year old adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial - the School in Motion study. BMC Public Health. 2021 May 6;21(1):871. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10901-x.

    PubMed 33957895
  • Kolle E, Solberg RB, Safvenbom R, Dyrstad SM, Berntsen S, Resaland GK, Ekelund U, Anderssen SA, Steene-Johannessen J, Grydeland M. The effect of a school-based intervention on physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength: the School in Motion cluster randomized trial. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020 Nov 26;17(1):154. doi: 10.1186/s12966-020-01060-0.

    PubMed 33243246
  • Avitsland A, Leibinger E, Haugen T, Lerum O, Solberg RB, Kolle E, Dyrstad SM. The association between physical fitness and mental health in Norwegian adolescents. BMC Public Health. 2020 May 24;20(1):776. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08936-7.

    PubMed 32448149

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Physical education, Physical active learning and Physical activity in people with Physical Activity and Academic Achievement, run by Norwegian School of Sport Sciences at 1 site in Norway.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 28 Jan 2019. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Norway. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Mean physical activity level (time frame: Measured baseline and after 12 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03817047, which also lists 8 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 28 Jan 2019.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in