Active Breaks on Mental Health and Classroom Climate in Chilean Schoolchildren Aged 6 to 10

NCT06423404 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 1 other identifier: Universidad de Concepción
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 700
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

Background: The incidence of mental health issues in children is increasing worldwide. In Chile, a recent surge in reports of deteriorating mental health among school populations and an increase in complaints related to poor school climate have been observed. Physical activity, specifically active breaks in the classroom, has shown positive effects on children's health. However, evidence regarding its impact on mental health and school climate in children is limited. Objective: This article outlines the design, measurements, intervention program, and potential efficacy of the Active Classes + School Climate and Mental Health project. This project will assess a 12-week program of active breaks through guided videos with curricular content in the school classroom, and its effects on mental health and school climate as its primary contributions. Additionally, it will measure physical activity, physical fitness, motor competence, and academic performance in students aged 6 to 10 years in the Biobío province, Chile, as secondary contributions. Methodology: It will be performed a multicenter randomized controlled trial involving students in the 1st to 4th grade (6 to 10 years old), encompassing a total of 48 classes across six schools (three intervention and three control) in the Biobío region, Chile. Video-guided active breaks will be implemented through the Active Classes; web platform, featuring curricular content, lasting 5 to 10 minutes and of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, twice a day, Monday to Friday, over a span of 12 weeks. Expected Results/Discussion: To our knowledge, this will be the first study in Chile to evaluate the effects of incorporating video-guided active breaks with curricular content on mental health variables and school climate in schoolchildren. Thus, this study contributes to the scarce evidence on the effects of video-guided active breaks on mental health variables and school climate in schoolchildren worldwide. Additionally, it will provide crucial information about active teaching methodologies that have the potential to positively contribute to the well-being of students, thus addressing the problems of mental health and climate in Chilean schools.

Conditions

Mental Health; School-age Children; School Health

Keywords

active break; mental health; school climate; schoolchildren; physical fitness; multicentre randomized controlled trial

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• School climate

  School climate scale (ECLIS). 82 items with a four-level Likert-type response format (ranging from all to none).

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at five months

• Mental health

  This outcome will be measurement with School Self-Esteem Test (SSET) and Self-report of socioemotional well-being. The raw score sum is transformed into a T score according to age norms, categorizing students as follows: normal self-esteem, ≥ 40 points; low self-esteem, 30-39 points; and very low self-esteem, ≤ 29 points.

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at five months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Academic performance

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at five months

• Physical health

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at five months

Other Outcomes (1)

• Sociodemographic

  From enrollment to the end of treatment at five months

Study Arms (2)

Experimental Group: Active Break group

EXPERIMENTAL

The Experimental Group, receiving a 12-week program of video-guided active breaks with curricular content in the school classroom

Behavioral: the Experimental Group, receiving a 12-week program of video-guided active breaks with curricular content in the school classroom

Control group: waiting list group

OTHER

The Control Group, receiving the same intervention as the experimental group after the final data collection. During the time of the intervention, the waiting list group will receive the usual classes.

Behavioral: the Experimental Group, receiving a 12-week program of video-guided active breaks with curricular content in the school classroom

Interventions

the Experimental Group, receiving a 12-week program of video-guided active breaks with curricular content in the school classroom BEHAVIORAL

The \"Active Classes + School Climate and Mental Health\" program was crafted following a comprehensive review by the research team on active breaks in the child school population. Based on the findings of this review, the optimal type and duration of intervention, frequency and intensity of the most effective exercises, and video-guided modalities with curricular content for active breaks will be established. Subsequently, a collaborative network was formed, involving researchers from education, sports science, social sciences, medicine, primary school teachers within the Chilean public school system, teams of educational leaders, parents, guardians, pedagogy students, and graduate students. The purpose was to create a team that systematically supports the development of various stages of the project from a multi and interdisciplinary perspective

Also known as: active break program

Control group: waiting list group; Experimental Group: Active Break group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 6 Years - 10 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• \- a) Regular male or female students in primary education, from first to fourth grade, at a public school in one of the three provinces of the Biobío region, willing to participate and with parental consent.
• b) Students spend at least 38 hours per week in classes (6.5 hours daily) and have at least two short breaks (10-15 minutes) per day.

You may not qualify if:

• a) Students with a medical diagnosis of spinal pathologies, vertigo, or uncontrolled hypertension.
• b) Students with severe intellectual disabilities prevented them from following the program instructions.
• c) Students participating simultaneously in another project with similar objectives.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad de Concepcion: lead

Study Sites (2)

Universidad de Concepción

Concepción, Región del Biobío, 4030000, Chile

Location

Universidad de Concepción

Concepción, Región del Biobío, 4070371, Chile

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Reyes-Amigo T, Ibarra-Mora J, Aguilar-Farias N, Gomez-Alvarez N, Carrasco-Beltran H, Zapata-Lamana R, Hurtado-Almonacid J, Paez-Herrera J, Yanez-Sepulveda R, Cortes G, Rolle-Caceres G, Bezerra A. An active break program (ACTIVA-MENTE) at elementary schools in Chile: study protocol for a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial. Front Public Health. 2024 Jan 8;11:1243592. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1243592. eCollection 2023.

  PMID: 38259740 BACKGROUND

• Robles-Campos A, Reyes-Molina D, Kracht-Suazo K, Cigarroa I, Carcamo-Oyarzun J, Martinez-Lopez N, Perez-Ruiz M, Grao-Cruces A, Mota J, Ruiz-Ariza A, Munoz Hinrichsen F, Garcia-Perez-de-Sevilla G, Celis-Morales C, Zapata-Lamana R. Effects of Video-Guided Active Breaks on Motor Competence of Schoolchildren with Special Education Needs. Children (Basel). 2025 Jun 21;12(7):820. doi: 10.3390/children12070820.

  PMID: 40723013 DERIVED

• Zapata-Lamana R, Robles-Campos A, Reyes-Molina D, Rojas-Bravo J, Salcedo Lagos P, Chavez-Castillo Y, Gajardo-Aguayo J, Villalobos JV, Arias AM, Sanhueza-Campos C, Ibarra Mora J, Reyes-Amigo T, Cristi-Montero C, Sanchez-Oliva D, Ruiz-Hermosa A, Sanchez-Lopez M, Poblete-Valderrama F, Celis-Morales C, Martorell M, Carrasco-Marin F, Albornoz-Guerrero J, Parra-Rizo MA, Cigarroa I. Effects of video-guided active breaks with curricular content on mental health and classroom climate in chilean schoolchildren aged 6 to 10: study protocol for a multicentre randomized controlled trial. Front Physiol. 2024 Sep 12;15:1438555. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1438555. eCollection 2024.

  PMID: 39328832 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: After schools agreed to participate, they were randomly assigned using a sequence generated by the IBM SPSS statistical package, with concealed allocation to one of two groups: 1) the Experimental Group (n=3), receiving a 12-week program of video-guided active breaks with curricular content in the school classroom; and 2) the Control Group (n=3), receiving the same intervention as the experimental group after the final data collection. A simple stratified randomization sequence by sex was used to achieve balance between males and females in both groups. The randomization sequence will be concealed through sequentially numbered, opaque, sealed envelopes, conduct by a project investigator with no contact with schools and participants. Significant differences in the quality of life, motor skills, and academic performance have been found in studies with similar samples.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The project involves public primary schools with similar indices of school vulnerability (SVI) and medium to low socioeconomic status in the Biobío province, Chile. This selection was made because students attending these schools spend approximately eight hours per day (from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM) with two 30-minute breaks and a longer one-hour lunch break. The intervention will focus on 1st to 4th grade classes. Six schools (three treatments and three controls) were recruited, estimating a sample size of 700 students (six schools × eight classes, with each class having 30 to 40 students).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 15, 2024
• First Posted: May 21, 2024
• Study Start: March 20, 2024
• Primary Completion: August 30, 2024
• Study Completion: August 30, 2024
• Last Updated: May 21, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-05

Locations

CL (2)