Co-Design with Rural Adolescents to Inform a School-Based Physical Activity and Social Media Literacy Intervention: A Qualitative Study

Janette M. Watkins (), Janelle M. Goss, Autumn P. Schigur, Megan M. Kwaiser, McKenna G. Major, Cassandra Coble, Krista Wisner, David Koceja, Vanessa M. Martinez Kercher and Kyle A. Kercher
Additional contact information
Janette M. Watkins: Department of Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Janelle M. Goss: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Autumn P. Schigur: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Megan M. Kwaiser: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
McKenna G. Major: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Cassandra Coble: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Krista Wisner: Department of Psychological & Brain Science, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
David Koceja: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Vanessa M. Martinez Kercher: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Kyle A. Kercher: School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, with rural communities experiencing elevated risk. Youth in rural settings are particularly vulnerable, reporting worse health outcomes than their urban peers. The growing influence of social media has added complexity to adolescent health behaviors, particularly among youth experiencing challenges with physical and mental well-being. This qualitative study presents findings from a co-design initiative conducted with rural middle school students to examine adolescents’ views on body image, social media use, and engagement in physical activity, and to inform the development of the Hoosier Sport Re-Social intervention. Fourteen middle school students (grades 7–8) from a rural community participated in a structured co-design process spanning five sessions over nine weeks. A deductive thematic analysis was employed using Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT) and Social Comparison Theory (SOCO) as guiding frameworks.

Keywords: youth health; community research; intervention design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1501/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/10/1501/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:10:p:1501-:d:1761641

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().