To support school physical education, United States (US) national organizations in medicine, health, and education recommend that schools adopt comprehensive school physical activity programmes (CSPAPs). An important factor in successful CSPAP implementation is the involvement of the school principal. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between principals’ self-reported CSPAP involvement and their social-ecological-based perceptions about CSPAPs. We analysed survey responses from a national sample of principals in the US who indicated their school had a CSPAP (n = 198). Exploratory structural equation modelling supported a single-factor solution for CSPAP involvement (12 items) and three social-ecological factors, which we labelled ‘intrapersonal’ (nine items mainly focused on expected outcomes of CSPAPs), ‘interpersonal’ (five items focused on parents’ and teachers’ support of the CSPAP), and ‘environmental’ (12 items focused on the support of the overall school environment, the community surrounding the school, and public policy for the CSPAP). Path analysis showed involvement factor scores are predicted by intrapersonal factor scores, which, in turn, are predicted by interpersonal and environmental factor scores. The results of this study are helpful in identifying targets for future research and practice related to CSPAP implementation and can inform efforts to prepare and support principals with respect to their CSPAP involvement.

为了支持学校体育教育，美国（美国）医学，卫生和教育领域的国家组织建议学校采用综合性学校体育活动计划（CSPAP）。成功实施CSPAP的重要因素是学校校长的参与。这项研究的目的是检验校长自我报告的CSPAP参与与其对CSPAP的基于社会生态学的看法之间的关系。我们分析了来自美国校长全国抽样调查的答复，这些调查表明他们的学校有CSPAP（n= 198）。探索性结构方程模型支持CSPAP参与的单因素解决方案（12个项目）和三个社会生态因素，我们将其标记为“人际”（9个项目主要关注CSPAP的预期结果），“人际关系”（五个项目重点家长和老师对CSPAP的支持）和“环境”（12个重点关注整个学校环境，学校周围社区和CSPAP公共政策的支持）。路径分析显示，参与因子得分是由人际因子得分预测的，而后者又是由人际和环境因子得分预测的。