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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the mental health of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Numerous pandemic-related stressors experienced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities may have impacted their ability to thrive, which has been linked to mental health outcomes. The current study examined the associations among COVID-19 stressors, thriving, and mental health problems among youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Method: Caregivers of 159 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities between 12 and 35 years of age from Canada completed an online questionnaire. Results: A mediation analysis revealed that COVID-19 stressors were positively associated with mental health problems, and that thriving partially mediated this association. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that experiences of thriving may be an important target for mental health support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"Steps to Inclusion" is a teacher-training resource specifically designed to facilitate inclusive physical education. Teacher-training resources, such as "Steps to Inclusion," can only be effective when systematic and effective adoption is achieved. The diffusion of innovations theory (DOI) provides a useful framework to contextualize and understand factors related to teachers' adoption of various teacher-training resources. Guided by the DOI, this study identified factors that teachers perceived to be important in facilitating resource adoption. Results indicate that improved adoption of resources could be achieved by: (1) communicating/promoting resources to key educational leaders; and (2) providing curated content. Additional practical implications and future directions are discussed.

Parents of children and youth with disabilities (CYD) have expressed unique physical activity (PA) information needs. Community-based organizations (CBOs) require assistance to meet these needs. Guided by the Appraisal of Guidelines, Research and Evaluation II, this project established evidence-informed recommendations for developing PA information targeting families of CYD. This process involved a systematic scoping review to inform draft recommendations (k = 23), which were revised via a consensus meeting with researchers, knowledge users from CBOs, and families of CYD. Broader consultation with CBO knowledge users informed the final recommendations (k = 5) that fit within the following categories: (a) language and definitions, (b) program information, (c) benefits of PA, (d) barriers to PA, and (e) PA ideas and self-regulation tools. CBOs are encouraged to consider these recommendations when developing PA information for families of CYD. Future research will focus on the development of knowledge products to disseminate the recommendations to CBOs and support implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality inclusive physical activity (PA) programmes have demonstrated vast benefits for individuals with (e.g.) and without disabilities. For example, among people with disabilities, PA participation is related to enhanced social inclusion, reduced risk for secondary health conditions, optimised physical functioning, and improved overall well-being. Although the benefits of PA are well documented, children and youth with disabilities are less likely to participate in PA compared to those without disabilities.

This report provides an expert appraisal of the Canadian Para Report Card on physical activity (PA) for children and adolescents with disabilities. Thirteen indicators were graded by a panel of researchers, representatives from disability and PA organizations, and parents of children and adolescents with disabilities using benchmarks of the Global Matrix 4.0 and previous Canadian PA Report Cards. Facilitated panel discussions were used to appraise the available evidence based on data gaps, opportunities, and recommendations. The available data sources included four nationally generalizable or representative data sets. Grades were assigned to 8/13 indicators and ranged from B+ to F. Data gaps in measurement and national surveillance systems were identified. Ableism was an issue identified within some of the reporting benchmarks. The absence of PA from existing accessibility legislation in Canada was a policy gap of concern. Recommendations related to research, surveillance, and policy are provided to enhance PA among children and adolescents with disabilities in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Internet is a preferred source of physical activity (PA) information. However, limited research exists regarding the experiences of parents of children and youth with disabilities (CYWD) in searching for PA programme information online. This research examined the experiences and preferences of parents of CYWD in searching for PA programme information online. Method: Parents of CYWD (n = 10) participated in a think-aloud exercise while searching for PA programme information online. Following the think-aloud exercise, semi-structured interviews were used to further understand parents' experiences and preferences in searching for PA programme information online. Results: Parents identified key features that contributed to a positive online search experience. Additionally, parents noted challenges and resulting negative affect that was experienced. Conclusions: This research can inform the development and dissemination of online PA programme information that is accessible and relevant to the preferences of parents of CYWD and can facilitate positive search experiences.

Children and youth with autism spectrum disorder engage in less physical activity than neurotypically developing peers. This may be due to factors associated with autism spectrum disorder at the individual and environmental level that can make physical activity participation more challenging. Parent support is a known determinant of physical activity among children and youth; however, limited research has explored the relationship between parent physical activity support behaviour and child physical activity behaviour within the autism spectrum disorder population. Guided by the multi-process action control framework, this study examined the relationship between parent physical activity support behaviour and physical activity levels of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder. Parents (n = 201) of school-aged children and youth with autism spectrum disorder completed measures of parent physical activity support (intentions, behavioural regulation, support behaviour), as well as their child's physical activity behaviour. Congruent with the multi-process action control model, intentions to provide physical activity support were significantly associated with parent physical activity support behaviour. Behavioural regulation of physical activity support mediated this relationship, which in turn significantly predicted child physical activity behaviour. Findings suggest parents play an instrumental role in the physical activity behaviour of children and youth with autism spectrum disorder. Family-level interventions targeting parents' behavioural regulation strategies to provide physical activity support may be an effective strategy to increase physical activity in children and youth with autism spectrum disorder.

The role of teacher training, as it pertains to the adoption of inclusive education (IE) ("European Journal of Special," 22, 2007, 367), is critical in realizing and achieving truly IE environments. Literature often reports poor or inadequate training with regard to IE practices ("Preparing Teachers of the Deaf for a Complex," Jacksonville, FL). The purpose of this review was to examine North American and Australian research regarding teacher training for students with disabilities (SWD) with the goal of informing best practice. Of the 27 reviewed studies, teacher training interventions reported positive outcomes and showed improvements in the areas of teachers' attitudes/perceptions, knowledge, and strategies/skill development ("Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children," 32, 2009, 166) regarding IE SWD. The researchers cautiously recommend the employment of workshop style approaches as they appear to have the capacity to tackle all three outcome variables concurrently and within the shortest timeframe. Our restrained recommendations for best practice are born out of the quality of evidence presented within the reviewed studies.

Educational podcasts are a new medium that provides content and profession-specific knowledge. Although educational podcasts are widely distributed and listened to within professional fields, little is known about the communities of learners or communities of practices (CoPs) that surround them. Within the field of physical education, effective CoPs have been documented within social media spaces, such as Twitter and Facebook, whereby physical educators engage to strengthen each other's teaching practices and knowledge. Although scholars have suggested that CoP exist around these podcasts, no research to date has examined these communities. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine what motivates podcast creators and listeners within the field of physical education and how CoPs are cultivated using podcasts. A purposive sample of 15 participants (7 = podcast creators, 8 = podcast listeners) were interviewed for this study. This investigation was guided by an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach (IPA). Separate interview guides were developed for the PE podcast creators and PE podcast listeners, being developed using the CoP and research questions, with each guide having similar and overlapping questions. In addition, an inductive category development method was used to analyze the data. Three themes were constructed: (a) enhancing and replacing professional development experiences, (b) degrees of community around physical education podcasts, and (c) attractive features of podcasts and areas of improvement. The findings support that an emerging CoP centered around physical education podcasts is being used as a means of knowledge-sharing. However, issues were raised that can negate the benefits of CoPs. These findings inform how physical education practitioners are engaged in informal professional development and the growing literature around CoPs that exist around educational podcasts in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parent support for physical activity (PA) is a behavior unto itself that requires motivation. Persuasive messages may be one method for motivating parent support for their children's PA. Message framing is one strategy for optimizing the impact of messages. The current study examined the relative effectiveness of gain- versus loss-framed messages for encouraging parent support for children's PA. Regardless of message frame, parents had an increase in social cognitive antecedents (e.g. perceived behavioral control, intentions) and support for children's PA following message exposure.

Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the mental health of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Numerous pandemic‐related stressors experienced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities may have impacted their ability to thrive, which has been linked to mental health outcomes. The current study examined the associations among COVID‐19 stressors, thriving, and mental health problems among youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Method: Caregivers of 159 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities between 12 and 35 years of age from Canada completed an online questionnaire. Results: A mediation analysis revealed that COVID‐19 stressors were positively associated with mental health problems, and that thriving partially mediated this association. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that experiences of thriving may be an important target for mental health support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Parents play an important role in supporting children's physical activity (PA) behavior. Parent PA support is a behavior unto itself that has been examined within the framework of an adapted theory of planned behavior (TPB). The primary purpose of this research was to identify key barriers to parent PA support to understand perceptions of control in relation to parent PA support. The second purpose of this research was to identify potential strategies to enhance parent PA support via enhanced perceived behavioral control. Method: Focus groups were conducted with parents (N = 21) of children aged 5 to 11 years old. A deductive content analysis was employed to analyze the data guided by an adapted TPB. Results: Themes related to barriers included parents' motivation, affective experiences in providing PA support, and control factors (e.g., cost, time, safety concerns, screen). Themes related to potential strategies included opportunities for participation and improved affective experiences for parents, community parenting, and self-regulatory strategies. Conclusion: The identification of specific barriers to parent PA support can guide the development of interventions to facilitate parent PA support. Informational, programming, and self-regulatory training interventions may be useful in enhancing parent support.

Background and context: Healthy school communities aim to optimise student health and educational achievement. Various models, terms and resources have been used to describe healthy school communities. Policy makers and practitioners have reported confusion around many of the key concepts involved because of the varying models and terms. Importantly, practitioners have reported that the lack of clarity impedes progress related to advancing healthy school work. To address these issues and work towards a common understanding of healthy school communities within the Canadian context, a collaborative process involving practitioners, policy makers and researchers culminated in the production of a concept paper. Objective: Here, we describe the process used to develop the concept paper and summarise what is known about healthy school communities and the effectiveness of the approach. Method: Guided by a steering committee and expert panel, we identified, reviewed and summarised key resources to identify common components and principles necessary for a healthy school communities approach. Results: Core components of healthy school communities that emerged include the presence of education, social and physical environments, policy, community partnerships and the use of evidence. Fundamental principles for creating healthy school communities include the adoption of a whole school approach, education and health service synergy, planning and assessment, leadership and sustainability. Here, we describe the iterative and collaborative process to identify these key components and principles. Conclusion: Beyond the Canadian context, this discussion paper describes a process for enhancing communication among organisations and stakeholders invested in healthy school communities internationally.

Physical activity (PA) promotion messages are typically framed in terms of the gains or losses associated with PA. However, the impact of gain and loss messages is affected by the message recipient's understanding of the risks associated with PA. PA risk is reinforced by the representation of aging as a risk factor of physical decline. Messages that promote PA as a strategy to mitigate aging-related risks of physical decline may have unintended consequences for aging anxiety (AA); however, this association is unexamined. This experiment examined if aging-related risk information and/or message framing impact PA intention and AA. 253 participants completed a randomized set of tasks that exposed them to different levels of aging-related risk information (high vs. low risk) and framed PA messages (gain vs. loss), resulting in a 2 × 2 factorial between-groups design. Outcome variables were lifespan PA intentions and AA. High-risk aging information promoted PA intentions more than low-risk information. Loss-framed PA messages resulted in greater AA than gain-framed messages. Low-risk aging information increased AA when paired with loss-framed PA messages, and high-risk aging information increased AA when paired with gain-framed PA messages. Including aging-related risk information with PA messages increases lifespan PA intentions as well as AA. PA messages that do not include aging-related risk information, but focus on the consequences of inactivity with age, also increase AA. Thus, there appears to be a paradoxical trade-off between promoting lifespan PA intentions and inducing AA through high-risk and loss-framed PA promotion approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To advance the understanding of perceived social isolation among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), the objectives of the present study were to explore: (1) experiences of perceived social isolation and (2) factors that contribute to perceived social isolation. Interpretive description qualitative methodology was used to conduct semi-structured interviews with 30 individuals with SCI from across Ontario (Canada) from November 2016 to August 2017. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants identified disruption to social networks that seemed to impact perceived social isolation. Five major themes were identified: (1) impact on structure and frequency of social network; (2) importance of feeling heard; (3) importance of employment, hobbies, and sports; (4) need to improve physical accessibility and built environment; and (5) individual characteristics. Changes in quality of social networks, rather than size, contributed to greater feelings of perceived social isolation. The built environment, maintenance of employment, hobbies, and sports, social media, and technology use, as well as individual traits, were also found to impact perceived social isolation. Future research should focus on the development of programs to help maintain or improve social network quality for persons with SCI to minimize the impact of perceived social isolation. Perceived social isolation, resulting from physical and environmental barriers, is a challenge that is faced by many individuals who are living in the community with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Rehabilitation and community programs should utilize an individualized approach to find solutions to challenges faced by this population to prevent the effects of perceived social isolation. Education on how to adapt to changes in social network, together with the provision of access to peer-to-peer support groups, and SCI specific return to work or leisure programs, is recommended as an essential component of rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents are an important source of support for facilitating physical activity in children and youth with disabilities (CYWD). Approximately 70% of parents report using the Internet to search for information regarding their children's health. This study examined the theoretical content of physical activity information contained on publicly available Web sites targeting parents of CYWD. Web sites were amassed using Google, a combination of various search terms, and predetermined inclusion criteria. The Web sites were coded and analyzed using the content-analysis approach to the theory of specified persuasive educational communication. Half of the total Web site content targeted knowledge-based information and messages concerning outcome expectancies. Web sites infrequently included messages concerning self-regulation. Furthermore, the majority of the Web sites were accumulated using the generic term disability. This research highlights the gaps between theory and practice, emphasizing the need for better knowledge-translation practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]