‘It’s too crowded’

Abstract

Many adolescent girls do not achieve a health-enhancing level of physical activity. This study aimed to identify the school physical environment factors that adolescent girls perceive to be important and influential regarding their physical education (PE) behaviour. Adolescent girls (n = 38; aged 13–16) participated in eight moderated focus groups, which were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were inductively content-analysed using NVivo to cluster participants’ comments into hierarchical themes. Six higher order themes emerged relating to the physical environment and included both positive and negative comments. Emergent themes related to 1) the activities offered; 2) the quality of the facilities for PE and changing; 3) the equipment available; 4) the length, quantity and scheduling of PE during the day; and the influence of 5) the weather and 6) clothing on PE participation. From the emergent findings it is evident that the physical environment is perceived as important to girls and can influence the quality of their PE experience. These findings may be used by teachers and exercise leaders to create an environment conducive to enhancing physical activity levels.

Keywords

Adolescence ecological model physical activity

Introduction

The benefits of physical activity (PA) for current and future physical and psychological well-being (e.g., prevention of obesity and enhancement of self-esteem) are well documented for young people (Department of Health, 2011). School offers an important arena within which PA for young people can be promoted and supported (Centers for Disease Control, 2011). Further, recent research suggests that physical education (PE) classes are an important source of daily PA because young people are more active on the days when they have PE (Brusseau et al., 2011; Meyer et al., 2011). Adolescent girls have been targeted as a key population to increase PA levels because they are consistently shown to be less active than boys, and their PA levels decline with age (Pate et al., 2007). For example, only 11% of Scottish girls aged 11–15 meet the current recommended PA levels (Currie et al., 2011). Within a PE setting, girls can be unenthusiastic and reluctant to engage (Cockburn and Clarke, 2002) and previous research has shown that girls have concerns regarding the value and nature of PE (Flintoff and Scraton, 2001). In order to inform and enhance teaching practice, it is important to increase understanding of the correlates and determinants of girls’ participation in PA, and PE specifically (Biddle et al., 2005b).

Consistent with current social ecological perspectives (Sallis et al., 2008), previous research has shown that adolescent girls’ PA behaviour is related to individual, social, cultural and physical environment variables (Biddle et al., 2005b). The physical environment can simply be defined as where the activity takes place (Kuo et al., 2009) or the space outside the person (Sallis et al., 2008), and may include accessibility of facilities, opportunities for activity, aesthetics, safety and weather (Humpel et al., 2002). Research examining the physical environment with adolescent girls has indicated that the availability of equipment and local PA facilities (Whitehead et al., 2006; Pate et al., 2008) and opportunities to be active at or near home (Kuo et al., 2009) were related to PA levels.

Few studies have focused on the role of the school environment on PA of adolescent girls. Cohen and colleagues (2008) reported that the school building (i.e., footprint size, outdoor amenities) accounted for a small proportion of activity. A Scottish study by Kirby, Levin and Inchley (2012) reported that girls’ moderate to vigorous PA was positively influenced by the number of hours allocated to PE in the fourth year of secondary school, by after-school opportunities, and by the number of sports teams. Kirby et al. also reported that the availability of shower facilities was negatively related to PA levels, perhaps reflecting girls’ reluctance to shower publicly.

Other studies with broader samples including boys and younger girls have also shown that the physical school environment is related to PA levels. Findings have indicated that the number of days of PE per week (Durant et al., 2009; Hobin et al., 2010), access to facilities after school (Durant et al., 2009), availability of adult supervision (McKenzie et al., 2000; Sallis et al., 2001), availability of school facilities (Sallis et al., 2001), number of students enrolled in the school (Hilland et al., 2011), and opportunities for school sport participation (Utter et al., 2011) were all positively associated with PA levels.

These findings highlight the role that the school physical environment can play in influencing overall PA, but little research has focused specifically on PE. Indeed to date most environmental research has focused on how the environment influences extra-curricular or volitional PA but not structured PA such as PE. It is likely that the physical environment may influence the quality of the PE experience, the participants’ PA during PE and also attitudes towards being active in other contexts, which may consequently influence overall PA levels. As stated above, PE is an important contributor to PA levels so understanding what constitutes an activity-friendly PE environment is important in order to encourage girls to engage in PE. To date, the studies conducted in this area have primarily been of a quantitative design, investigating the influence of pre-determined environmental factors on activity levels. Limited research has considered pupils’ views regarding what aspects of the PE physical environment are important and how they may influence PA. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore adolescent girls’ perceptions of how the physical environment influences their PE experiences.

Method

Participants

Following institutional ethical and Local Education Authority approval, two local state-funded secondary schools were asked to take part in the study. Within these schools all S4 (equivalent to 10th grade) girls (n = 218) were invited to participate in the study. From this, 38 participants (aged 13–16) volunteered and participated in eight focus groups with 4–7 participants in each group. The main reason for non-participation was due to the non-return of parental consent forms. Prior to the focus groups, participants completed a brief questionnaire to determine their current physical activity levels in relation to achieving the current PA guidelines for health (i.e., 60 minutes of moderate intensity PA each day) (Prochaska et al., 2001). Within each group there was a mix of high (n = 12), moderate (n = 13) and low (n = 13) active girls, providing a range of activity levels and experiences.

Description of the context

The recruited schools were selected because they were deemed to be sufficiently similar in terms of socio-economic status, school roll and PE facilities and experiences. Both schools were state funded and one school was located in a city (school roll = 1353 pupils) and the other in a nearby town (school roll = 1312 pupils). The PE facilities in the city school included three outdoor pitches and an Astroturf, and indoors there was a games hall, gymnasium, dance studio, fitness suite and classroom. The facilities in the town school included a grass area immediately outside the school, a further playing field facility 10 minutes from the school, and inside there were three gym halls and a dance studio. The school also had access to the facilities in a next door sports centre which included a main sports hall, fitness suite and squash courts. In Scotland at the time of the study, the government recommended that each child had two hours of non-certificated high-quality PE each week.¹ However, in 2010 only 23% of high schools achieved this target (Scottish Government, 2010) and neither of the schools in this study reached that target. In the third year of high school, students can also opt to study for a qualification in PE beyond their statutory timetabled PE.

Instruments

In a qualitative inquiry, the researcher is viewed as an instrument of the research (Lincoln and Guba, 1985) and it is therefore appropriate to provide details of the researchers’ background and perspective so that the reader can interpret the researchers’ understanding of the data (Elliott et al., 1999). The primary researcher collected all of the data and had undertaken formal training in focus group moderation. All of the researchers had experience of working with the target population, collecting PA-related data in a school environment, and undertaking qualitative research. All of the researchers were physically active women who understood the benefits of PA and actively promoted it.

The focus group schedule was designed to include rapport-building questions and cover two main issues: physical features of the PE environment and changing facilities. In addition to open-ended questions, participants were asked to conduct tasks including commenting on both positive and negative quotes from adolescent girls relating to PA, and designing their ideal PA environment. Two pilot studies were undertaken and feedback was used to modify the schedule and delivery (e.g., ensure sufficient time given for participants to respond fully).

Procedure

The focus groups took place over two one-month periods (June and September) and were carried out in a school classroom. Immediately before each focus group, a series of ground rules were developed and agreed upon by the participants and researcher in order to encourage trust and mutual respect between the girls. The focus groups were audio recorded using a digital voice recorder and lasted between 45 and 71 (mean = 56) minutes. The data were downloaded and transcribed verbatim.

Data analysis

The data from both schools were combined to provide an overall insight into the influence of the environment. A computer software package (Nvivo 8) was used to assist with data management, sorting and retrieval. An inductive content analysis was undertaken and followed three steps. Initially two researchers read the transcripts and familiarised themselves with the data, and then independently identified meaning units that included words, sentences or paragraphs representing a single, recognisable aspect of participants’ experiences (Graneheim and Lundman, 2004; Scanlan et al., 1991). The researchers then discussed and debated the identified meaning units until agreement was reached. The next step involved theme building whereby the meaning units were compared and clustered together if they had similar meaning to form first-order themes. Relationships between these first-order themes were then identified and themes with similar meaning were clustered together to form second-order themes. This process continued until no further groupings could be made, and second- and third-order themes had emerged. In some instances, first- or second-order themes could not be further grouped and these were directly linked to the general theme of PE physical environment. Two of the researchers independently undertook theme building and results were then compared and inter-rater reliability was assessed. For each focus group, sufficient reliability was demonstrated (i.e. kappa >0.8) and any disagreements were discussed until agreement was reached.

In addition to the reliability calculations, a number of procedures were incorporated into the analysis to increase its credibility, following established guidelines (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Elliott et al., 1999). A detailed description of the context has been provided so that readers can determine the transferability of the findings to other contexts. Additionally, a ‘disinterested peer’, with experience in the research area, was employed to evaluate and question the researchers’ decision-making. Further, several example quotes from the interviews are included in the results section to allow readers to appraise the fit between the data and the interpretation of the data and so that the ‘voices’ of the interviewees, using pseudonyms, are heard and can resonate with the reader (Elliott et al., 1999). Finally, the primary researcher maintained a reflective diary throughout the process in which she recorded methodological decisions (Lincoln and Guba, 1985).

Results

Overview

The results presented are the collective responses of all eight focus groups. The results are presented in diagrammatic format and Figure 1 provides an overview of the 23 first-order themes, six second-order themes and two third-order themes emerging under the general theme of PE physical environment, which was defined as where PE takes place (Kuo et al., 2009).

Figure 1

Summary of the emergent hierarchical themes of the PE physical environmental factors perceived to be important.

Third-order theme: Activity offered

This theme emerged from participants’ views on the actual activities offered during PE. As is evident from the second-order themes Activities Viewed Positively and Activities Viewed Negatively in Figure 1, there were mixed findings with some participants making positive comments relating to team and individual activities and others responding negatively in relation to these types of activities. For example, a number of girls reported enjoying team games like basketball and hockey (e.g., ‘I do basketball ’cos it’s really relaxing, it’s good for your fitness, but it’s relaxing, especially when it’s last thing on a Friday’. In contrast, others viewed team sports more negatively with Tina highlighting ‘We also get the choice of football but not very many girls take it because half the boys go and they get really competitive…’. Other girls reported enjoying doing individual activities such as using a fitness suite and dancing. For example, with reference to the fitness suite, Lee commented ‘It’s quite fun ‘cos sometimes you don’t actually want to do a sport, like don’t want to go out and play rounders or anything, but you quite fancy a wee run or something…’. However, there were strong feelings from some girls relating to dance with several girls stating they disliked it but recognised that girls who regularly danced were more likely to enjoy it. For example, Andrea did not enjoy dancing and stated ‘…also if you don’t do dancing at all, for most people it’s the worst kind of thing you can do in PE.’ Swimming was also identified as a negative activity by several participants including Jade who explained why she did not enjoy it: ‘Everyone is embarrassed, if you’re in, like, a pure bikini or whatever in front of boys that are in your class that you’re going to see every day after that…’. It was evident that Jade did not enjoy swimming because she had self-presentation concerns about wearing swimwear in the presence of boys.

A further first-order theme emerged related to the activities offered and was labelled Variety of Activity and reflected the girls’ preferences for a combination of different types of activity. This preference included the girls being offered a mix of competitive and non-competitive activities, and team and individual activities. For example, Anna suggested that a PE class should: ‘Have team activities, but have sometimes individual activities as well’. Further, participants felt that taking part in the same activities for PE all the time could become repetitive and boring. Consequently, they felt that a variety of team and individual, and competitive and non-competitive activities were necessary to combat this.

A final first-order theme was labelled Choice of Activity and related to the environment offering the opportunity to choose what activity to take part in. There was a lot of discussion around this theme. For example, Rachel described activity selection in her school: ‘At the start of the year everybody in the year goes into the big hall and there’s loads of stuff round the room…and if there’s nothing there that you like, then you’re like, oh god I’ve got a whole year of this and it just makes you not want to do PE the whole year…’. For Rachel, whilst she was offered an opportunity to pick her own activity, the variety of activities available did not necessarily fit her preferences. As a result, she reported a feeling of dread at the prospect of taking part in PE for the whole year.

Other girls highlighted that it was important for people to have suitable options for PE in order to ensure participation. It was reported that when people were not satisfied with the selection of activities then they were unlikely to participate. For example, Lisa suggested ‘No, but if you want to be active you’re not going to do it if you get made to do something you don’t want to do…that will just put you off doing it anyway…off doing it altogether’. It was evident for Lisa that mandatory participation in certain activities was detrimental to her motivation to be active.

Third-order theme: Facilities

The third-order theme emerged from two second-order themes; PE Facilities and Changing Facilities. A number of comments were made referring to the appropriateness of the facilities in which the participants were physically active during PE (e.g. a gym hall or playing field). Specifically, participants commented on the size and layout of the space with some indicating that a small space had a negative impact on their experience. For example, Katie stated ‘It’s too crowded and nobody can actually do anything’. The layout of the space was also identified as being influential on their experience and specifically the girls indicated a dance studio with mirrors could lead to negative experiences. For example, Ashley stated ‘… you know how there’s the big mirrors and stuff you can see them behind you making comments and staring at you and that just makes you muck up even more so then you make a bigger idiot of yourself and then they slag [tease] you even more…’. Unsurprisingly, participants also expressed a preference for a clean, warm and safe space to be active and highlighted that if a room was not clean or warm they did not want to be physically active.

A number of comments also emerged relating to the suitability of the changing facilities. General feedback from participants was that the changing rooms in the schools in the current study were reasonable (e.g., ‘Our changing rooms are alright, they are fine’). However, a number of participants indicated that their changing facilities were not satisfactory and that this negatively influenced their behaviour. For some, unsatisfactory changing facilities actually encouraged the girls to get changed more quickly, which may actually have resulted in them being more active. For example, one girl reported ‘it’s like hurry up and get changed quicker so that I can go out’. Nevertheless, poor changing facilities were not pleasant for the participants and were viewed as a negative aspect of the physical environment.

The participants identified that the toilet facilities available in each school’s PE department in general were sub-standard. Andrea and Gemma pointed this out: Andrea: ‘Well there’s never really any soap, there’s paper towels, but no soap, and some of the locks are broken on the toilets and the toilets always stink…’. Researcher: ‘Do you think it would make a difference if you had really nice changing rooms or toilets?’. Gemma: ‘Yeah, I think you’d feel a lot cleaner before and after PE, so I think it would help’. Other participants felt that whilst it was unfortunate and slightly frustrating that the toilets did not have any locks, they did not think it had an impact on PE participation.

Participants reported that a lack of privacy in the changing rooms could influence whether pupils felt comfortable or not. For example, Christine reported ‘The showers all have their own doors, but you’re actually having to get changed in front of everyone, which could sometimes make you feel uncomfortable depending on who it is.’ It was also suggested that lack of privacy in changing facilities increased the time taken to get changed, and in turn, reduced the amount of time spent in PE. Overall, a lack of privacy in changing rooms was viewed negatively by participants.

Related to lack of privacy were negative comments relating to the inadequate size of changing facilities, which could result in cramped conditions. For example, Nicole and Caroline reported: Nicole: ‘Yeah, because there’s water in our changing room at the moment and everyone is budged up one end…’; Caroline: ‘And I was like “get out of my space”’. Caroline did not provide clarification as to how this impacted on her PA, however, it was apparent that this was a negative experience for her. The first-order theme Lack of Cleanliness referred to the standard of hygiene of changing facilities and participants recognised that this could be improved. For some girls poor cleanliness was seen as an inconvenience but for others it was viewed as influencing their PA. For example, Anna suggested ‘… because like you know the toilets in our bit, the locks are broken and it’s really smelly and it smells horrible and you don’t want to go in there and don’t want to do PE, you feel all horrible and not that confident…’. Whilst it was not explicitly clear how Anna’s confidence levels could be increased through improving the cleanliness of the toilets, she believed that toilets that are not clean result in her not wishing to take part in PE.

A further emergent theme was labelled Safe Storage Available and related to having facilities for securely storing participant’s PE kit. In one school, the participants had access to lockers in which they could store their PE kit and the participants felt that this was helpful because they then did not have to carry their kit with them, or leave it unsecured.

Second-order theme: PE equipment

A second-order theme emerged from participants’ discussion about how the equipment available in the PE environment could influence their PA behaviour. Specifically, it was noted that poor quality equipment could lead to problems in class with participants being distracted by concerns about equipment and not being able to perform well. For example, Fiona stated ‘cos if you’re left with the rubbish ones (equipment) or ones that don’t work properly and then that stops you from playing as best you could. Other people just shout and moan at you and it’s not enjoyable’. Having insufficient equipment was also identified as problematic because girls would have to wait for equipment and get frustrated. Further, having a variety of equipment was deemed to be positive, enabling the girls to make a choice about what equipment they used.

Second-order theme: Timings

The second-order theme Timings emerged from three first-order themes and referred to aspects of length, quantity and timing of PE that the girls felt contributed to their PE experience. These aspects were deemed to represent aspects of the physical environment because they related to how PE was logistically organised rather than who organised it. A first-order theme related to how long a PE class lasts and several participants believed that their PE class was not long enough. This opinion was highlighted by Laura who commented: ‘Yeah because people who didn’t pick PE only get an hour a week and that’s not a lot of time’. Participants such as Amy felt that short periods prevented her from going to off-campus facilities ‘…we’ve only got an hour for every period…, so now we can’t use (specific facility), so now we can’t do athletics or hockey or anything…’. When participants were asked how long a PE class should be, several suggested that two hours would be the optimal length. This finding may reflect the characteristics of this specific school where there was a need to have time to access off-site facilities.

In addition to the length of a class, a number of comments emerged referring to the time of day that participants have their PA class. For example, Penny stated ‘…Cos if you have it first thing then you’re going to be all tired and you don’t want to get all hot and sweaty and then you’ll feel horrible all day, but if you have it last you wouldn’t really care ‘cos you can just go home’. The girls indicated that it was important for them to be comfortable after being physically active. They also stressed that it was necessary for them to have sufficient time to get changed after being physically active in order to reduce the likelihood of being late for their next class. Overall, the time of day at which pupils had PA was an important feature of the environment for pupils. In general, participants reported that having PA last thing during the school day was preferable.

A theme emerged relating to the frequency of PE with participants suggesting one period of mandatory PE a week was not adequate. For example, Alice commented ‘No I think you should maybe get a bit more [than once a week], ‘cos I don’t really do any sports outside of school so PE is like the only sport I do, but erm, but if I was doing it more often it might encourage me to go out and start a club or something…’ However, other participants reported that one period of mandatory PE a week was enough because they already took part in other activities, including studying for a qualification in PE.

First-order theme: Weather conditions

Participants highlighted that weather conditions could have an impact on their PE experience. It was reported that if there were adverse weather conditions then some pupils, like Gemma, did not want to go outside to be active: ‘Yeah sometimes if it’s raining you can’t be bothered.’ For others, such as Lucy, the weather was not important: ‘No the weather doesn’t really bother me, but if it is quite bad weather you do kind of expect to be made to do everything inside.’

First-order theme: Clothing

An additional emergent theme referred to the girls’ views on the clothing worn to be physically active. Clothing was identified as an aspect of the physical environment because it relates to physical items. Participants had differing views about the impact of clothing. Some girls perceived that not having the ‘right’ clothing could impact how they felt in class. For example, Kate explained that she felt clothing was important in a PA environment: ‘Cos you actually get it in your head that they are actually better than you cos they’re wearing better clothes’. Michelle also reported that clothing was important: ‘…Well because people are judging what you’re wearing…. It just makes you feel like you’re not good enough, if you’ve not got your hair done right, that you’ve not got the right clothes on and the best trainers and that you’re not good enough.’ However this view was not shared by everyone and Becca responded to Michelle’s comments by stating ‘I don’t think it makes a difference, for me it doesn’t anyway.’ The girls did not identify a solution regarding suitable attire for PA. Some participants believed that there should be some form of uniform; however others anticipated that having to wear a uniform may result in girls refusing to do PE.

Discussion

The results of this study indicate that girls perceived that the activities offered for PE, the changing facilities, equipment, timings of PE, clothing and weather, were physical environmental factors that were important and influenced their experience of PE. These different factors influenced the PE experience in both a positive and negative manner but highlight the need to consider these factors when providing PE for girls.

The activities offered within the PE environment were perceived by the girls to be an important influence on the PE experience. This supports previous research that showed subject matter was an environmental correlate of PA in 9–12 year olds (Chow et al., 2009). It was evident from the findings that there were mixed preferences relating to the type of activity offered. Offering Dance has recently been identified as a viable way of promoting PA in adolescent girls (e.g., Y Dance: Scottish Youth Dance, 2012), however a number of girls reported feeling uncomfortable during this activity suggesting that it was not appealing to all. Swimming was also identified as an activity that girls had concerns with, partly due to wearing swimming attire in front of boys. Previous research has also identified this concern (James, 2000; Whitehead and Biddle, 2008) and highlights the fact that self-presentational concerns may influence activity preference. Girls may be more comfortable participating in swimming in single-sex classes (Flintoff and Scraton, 2001).

It was a promising finding that girls did like some activities, indicating that they were not completely disengaged from PE. However, there was no consensus identified amongst the girls as to which activities they would prefer, and this lack of consensus highlights the challenges that face teachers in trying to accommodate individual preferences. Continuing to provide a variety of activities, including team and individual activities, may help to resolve this issue and the girls did report a preference for having a mix of activities during PE to sustain their interest. The girls also highlighted the importance of being provided with the opportunity to choose their activities. This finding supports previous research that reported pupils perceived choice of activity as a positive component of the PE experience (Hohepa et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2009) and reiterates the importance of providing girls with choice. However, this can be difficult in practice (Flintoff and Scraton, 2001) and a number of girls reported that, although they had the opportunity to make choices, the options available to them were not appealing and consequently they did not enjoy PE.

Consistent with previous research the facilities available were identified as an important environmental influence on PA (Sallis et al., 2001; Pate et al., 2008). The findings of this study add to the literature by focusing in more detail on the nature and quality of these facilities. Specifically, the girls reported that the size, layout, cleanliness, safety and warmth of the PE facility were all important, and this supports suggestions by teachers that poor PE facilities can discourage pupils from taking part in PE (Biddle et al., 2005a). Within the PE environment, the girls also reported that the prevalence of mirrors could be problematic because it provided some pupils with the opportunity to make negative comments. Although the presence of mirrors can be important in order for monitoring technique (Peterson et al., 1997), previous research has shown that the presence of mirrors in an exercise environment can lead to increased anxiety for some women (Raedeke et al., 2007). Although this is difficult to resolve, in a PE session it may be appropriate to allow girls to choose whether mirrors are visible or covered up.

The girls also said that the changing facilities influenced the quality of their PE experience and some girls raised concerns about the inadequate size, cleanliness, privacy and provision of suitable toilets. The finding that the changing rooms were perceived as inadequate is consistent with previous Scottish-based studies (Biddle et al., 2005a; Inchley et al., 2010) and suggests that there is an urgent need to address this issue. Girls said they would feel more comfortable in more attractive and hygienic changing facilities and this might encourage girls to participate in PE. Indeed previous research (Brooks and Magnusson, 2006) and practice (Womens’ Sport and Fitness Foundation, 2011) have shown that improvements to changing facilities can improve PE participation, and environmental research has highlighted that neighbourhood aesthetics (e.g., attractiveness and pleasantness) can influence PA behaviour (Humpel et al., 2002). Finally, having adequate storage space so that pupils do not need to carry their kit throughout the day was identified as a positive facility.

Pupils commented that poor quality and lack of equipment could lead to unrest in class because the girls get bored waiting to use equipment or frustrated with having to use poor quality equipment. Previous research has indicated that access to appropriate equipment is positively related to PA in adolescent girls (Motl et al., 2005, 2007; Sallis et al., 2001). Together these findings highlight the importance of providing sufficient equipment in the PE environment to enable girls to participate fully.

The girls also suggested that the timing of PE could influence their experience. Specifically, there were concerns that one hour for a PE class was not enough, partly because it limited the type of activity that could be undertaken. Additionally, some girls suggested that having PE only once per week was insufficient for those girls who did not partake in any additional PA. These findings indicate that the girls are interested in being active for longer and more frequently, and this is consistent with other recent research (Inchley et al., 2010). Previous research has shown that increased time for PE does lead to increased overall PA levels in girls (Cawley et al., 2007; Kirby et al., 2012). However, increasing timetabled PE is difficult as PE has to compete with other subjects within the curriculum and within pupil’s choices where more ‘academic’ subjects are often prioritised. Also, in relation to timings, the girls suggested that PE should be scheduled so that classes could be at the end of the day because they would then have fewer concerns about getting changed and rushing to the next class. Whilst logistically this could be difficult, radical changes may be necessary. Research has indicated that the hours immediately after school are ‘critical’ in contributing to adolescent’s PA (Atkin et al., 2008), so extending the school day so that girls can participate in PE after school could be considered.

The weather was identified as an environmental factor that influenced girls’ experience of PE, with poor weather leading to a negative experience and decreasing motivation to participate for some girls. This finding is consistent with previous research that shows weather can be a barrier to PA (Allison et al., 1999) and highlights the need for schools to be able to provide alternative activities if the weather is poor. Finally, clothing emerged as influencing some girls’ experiences of PE. Although clothing is not a typical environmental factor, it was classified as such because it relates to physical items. In these schools, girls were not required to wear a particular uniform or specific items of clothing so, unlike previous research, the girls were not concerned about having to wear clothing that made them feel uncomfortable (e.g., gym skirts; Flintoff and Scraton, 2001). Girls were allowed to wear their own sportswear but this led to concerns from some girls that they were being judged and that they felt inadequate because they were not wearing the ‘right’ clothing. It was apparent that the issue of clothing could negatively influence the PE experience for some girls. Resolving this issue is difficult because it was indicated that introducing uniforms would not be well received. Instead a focus on enhancing the social environment may be appropriate to reduce negative communication between girls.

The purpose of this paper was to focus on the physical environmental factors that influence the PE experience of adolescent girls, and a number of such factors were identified. However, consistent with the ecological framework (Sallis et al., 2008), it is recognised that addressing these in isolation would be difficult. For example, it is acknowledged that making improvements to facilities and equipment and changes in curriculum would be influenced by the wider economic and political environment. Further, it can be difficult to untangle the physical environment from the social environment. For example, on their own the prevalence of mirrors and the type of clothing worn would not be perceived as problematic; however, within a social environment that is not supportive, these physical environmental factors can became a stimulus for some girls to make negative comments and create an uncomfortable environment for other girls. Future research that focuses on the PE social environment would be of value to explore this issue further. Further research with teachers would also be of value, because it is likely that they may offer a different perspective on the nature of the physical environment in PE and how it can be enhanced.

This qualitative study has provided a rich insight into adolescent girls’ experiences of their PE environment. Individual differences were evident within the results resulting in some contradictory findings that may reflect the different activity levels of girls within the sample. Although it was deemed important to provide perspectives from girls with a range of activity levels in school, a limitation of the study is that comparisons between these groups could not be made. Future research may aim to compare the perspectives of girls with different activity levels. Nevertheless, in general the findings are consistent with previous research showing that the physical environment is perceived to be important and influential on the PE experience. Future research could aim to more closely examine the relationship between these identified physical environmental factors and attendance, participation and enjoyment of PE. This study has identified a number of environmental characteristics that are specifically relevant to adolescent girls, many of which are potentially modifiable. Specific issues that may be modified include: i) providing variety and choice in activities, with alternative activities available for poor weather; ii) providing options over the use of mirrors; iii) enhancing changing facilities; iv) providing adequate quality equipment; and v) considering the length and timing of PE within the school day. Therefore, these findings may be used by teachers and exercise leaders to create an environment that is conducive to enhancing PE participation, and overall PA levels in this group.

Footnotes

Acknowledgement

The researchers would like to thank the schools and pupils for their participation in the study.

Funding

The research was funded by a studentship from the Chief Scientist Office (ref: CZS/07/12) which funded Henretty’s PhD.

Note

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