Perceived stress, school satisfaction and academic self-concept before and after a physical activity intervention among 4th – 6th grade primary schoolchildren in marginalized neighbourhoods of Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Background
Mental health problems and the trend towards a sedentary lifestyle are core health challenges of the 21st century. Psychological and physiological health burdens are a global public health concern. Identifying and denominating protective factors for either sections is essential for preventing and tackling these major health challenges. There is a large body of studies proving positive relationships between physical activity and mental health. This master thesis aims at providing evidence to measure the influence of physical activity on mental wellbeing concerning perceived stress, school satisfaction and academic self-concept. Additionally, this association is put into perspective by also taking the socio-demographic factors age, gender, ethnicity, home language and socioeconomic status into account.
Methods
Within the framework of the longitudinal KaziBantu study, cross-sectional data was collected from 852 primary schoolchildren living in marginalized neighbourhoods in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Learners from grade 4 to 6 were asked to fill out the same self-reported questionnaire twice, first in T1-baseline testing from January to March 2019 and again in T2-follow-up testing from June to October 2019. In between, four of the eight participating schools experienced a physical activity intervention program.
Results
On average, schoolchildren independent of the school group (control or intervention) reported significant higher values in perceived stress (+0.22; p = 0.038) and negligible lower values in school satisfaction (–0.02; p = 0.002) and academic self-concept (–0.09; p = 0.001) in follow-up testing compared to the baseline testing. An overall decrease of the psychosocial wellbeing can be suggested. However, scores decreased less in learners of intervention schools compared to those of the control schools without intervention. Age, gender and socioeconomic status did not have an influence, whereas home language (mean difference: −0.07; 95% CI: −0.11 to -0.04; p < 0.001) and ethnicity (mean difference: −0.10; 95% CI: −0.14 to −0.07; p < 0.001) correlated negatively with school satisfaction.
Conclusion
An overall decrease of the psychosocial wellbeing was detected after the intervention period. However, school children which experienced regular physical activity interventions reported fewer decreasing results than school children without intervention. This might be attributable to the beneficial effects of physical activity on mental health. Therefore, a more physically active schooling environment is recommended to improve far-reaching health aspects of young learners in disadvantaged primary schools in South Africa.