Weiss publishes on impact of Girls on the Run in promoting developmental health outcomes

Maureen Weiss, PhD

Maureen Weiss, PhD, professor of Kinesiology, along with former doctoral students Lindsay Kipp (PhD, 2012, assistant professor, Texas State University), Alison Phillips (PhD, 2015, lecturer, University of Iowa), and Nicole Bolter (PhD, 2010, associate professor, San Francisco State University), published results of their longitudinal study evaluating the effectiveness of Girls on the Run in promoting positive social, emotional, and physical health outcomes.

Girls on the Run is an after-school, physical activity-based positive youth development (PA-PYD) program designed to enhance girls’ social, psychological, and physical development. In this study, 203 girls ages 8–11 years completed survey measures of the Five Cs of PYD (competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring), physical activity, and sedentary behavior prior to, at the end of, and 3 months after the season. Subsamples of girls, coaches, caregivers, and school personnel participated in focus groups. Coaches completed information about their team’s community impact project. The full sample improved in confidence and connection, whereas girls who started below the preseason average showed the greatest improvements from preseason to postseason on all measures, and scores were maintained or continued to improve at follow-up.

All stakeholders in focus groups corroborated evidence of season-long gains in positive social and emotional behaviors and health outcomes. Involvement in the community impact project contributed to girls’ growth in character and empathy skills. Collectively, findings provide strong evidence that Girls on the Run is effective in promoting positive youth development, including season-long and lasting positive change in competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and physical activity, and reduced sedentary behavior, especially among girls who exhibited lower preseason scores than their peers. The study is published in Pediatric Exercise Science, 31, 330-340.