International Journal of Secondary Education

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Effect of Female Only Versus Coed Physical Education Classes on Social Physique Anxiety in 7th Grade girls

Received: 23 October 2013    Accepted:     Published: 10 November 2013
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Abstract

It is well documented that there is a significant decrease in the enjoyment and participation of adolescent females in physical education (PE) classes. Adolescent females report a desire for single sex classes due to increased feelings of social physique anxiety (SPA). Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to examine changes in SPA of 7th grade females in same sex and coed PE classes. Forty-two 7th grade females from a junior high school in the Mountain West region of the United States participated in this pilot study. Group one participated in a female-only class, while group two remained in the school’s traditional coed class format. Scores from the Social Physique Anxiety Scale were used to measure change during a three week unit. A 2 x 2 ANCOVA was conducted to examine changes in SPA scores. Results revealed no significant changes between groups or within groups. However, a trend was observed with the same sex group’s SPA scores decreasing (9.75%) and coed scores increasing (8.3%). Several articles have examined same sex versus coed PE classes, but few have examined SPA within a middle school physical education setting. This study provides a starting point to further examine adolescent SPA in PE.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20130105.13
Published in International Journal of Secondary Education (Volume 1, Issue 5, October 2013)
Page(s) 26-30
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Single Gender, Physical Education, Social Physique Anxiety

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

  • Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

  • Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

  • Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

  • Department of Health Promotion and Education, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA

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  • APA Style

    Prewitt, Steve, James Hannon, Timothy Brusseau, Maria Newton, et al. (2013). Effect of Female Only Versus Coed Physical Education Classes on Social Physique Anxiety in 7th Grade girls. International Journal of Secondary Education, 1(5), 26-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20130105.13

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    ACS Style

    Prewitt; Steve; James Hannon; Timothy Brusseau; Maria Newton, et al. Effect of Female Only Versus Coed Physical Education Classes on Social Physique Anxiety in 7th Grade girls. Int. J. Second. Educ. 2013, 1(5), 26-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20130105.13

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    AMA Style

    Prewitt, Steve, James Hannon, Timothy Brusseau, Maria Newton, et al. Effect of Female Only Versus Coed Physical Education Classes on Social Physique Anxiety in 7th Grade girls. Int J Second Educ. 2013;1(5):26-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20130105.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijsedu.20130105.13,
      author = {Prewitt and Steve and James Hannon and Timothy Brusseau and Maria Newton and Janet Shaw and Julia Summerhays},
      title = {Effect of Female Only Versus Coed Physical Education Classes on Social Physique Anxiety in 7th Grade girls},
      journal = {International Journal of Secondary Education},
      volume = {1},
      number = {5},
      pages = {26-30},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijsedu.20130105.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20130105.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsedu.20130105.13},
      abstract = {It is well documented that there is a significant decrease in the enjoyment and participation of adolescent females in physical education (PE) classes. Adolescent females report a desire for single sex classes due to increased feelings of social physique anxiety (SPA). Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to examine changes in SPA of 7th grade females in same sex and coed PE classes. Forty-two 7th grade females from a junior high school in the Mountain West region of the United States participated in this pilot study. Group one participated in a female-only class, while group two remained in the school’s traditional coed class format. Scores from the Social Physique Anxiety Scale were used to measure change during a three week unit. A 2 x 2 ANCOVA was conducted to examine changes in SPA scores. Results revealed no significant changes between groups or within groups. However, a trend was observed with the same sex group’s SPA scores decreasing (9.75%) and coed scores increasing (8.3%). Several articles have examined same sex versus coed PE classes, but few have examined SPA within a middle school physical education setting. This study provides a starting point to further examine adolescent SPA in PE.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    AU  - Prewitt
    AU  - Steve
    AU  - James Hannon
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    AU  - Maria Newton
    AU  - Janet Shaw
    AU  - Julia Summerhays
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