Vazou Spyridoula, Mantis Constantine, Luze Gayle, Krogh Jacqueline S
Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
J Sport Health Sci. 2017 Jun;6(2):241-247. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2016.01.006. Epub 2016 Jan 11.
The well-rounded development of the child, including physical, cognitive, emotional, and social health, may be the most efficient route to well-being and academic success. The primary goal was to investigate the feasibility of implementing a 12-week structured program of physical activity (PA) incorporating cognitive, social, and emotional elements in preschool. Additionally, this study, using a within-subject design, examined the acute effects of a PA session on classroom engagement and changes on perceived competence and peer acceptance from the first to the last week of the program.
Twenty-seven preschoolers (mean age = 4.2 years) completed the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children before and after a twice-weekly PA program. Unobtrusive classroom observations were conducted for verbal, social, and affective engagement during the first and last week of the program, both following a structured PA session (experimental day) and on a day without PA (control day). Treatment fidelity was monitored to ensure that the intervention was delivered as designed.
The children exhibited longer periods of verbal and social engagement during classroom periods that followed PA sessions than on non-PA days. Children also expressed more positive affect following PA sessions during the last week of the PA program. Despite high baseline scores, perceptions of general competence increased meaningfully ( = 0.15, = 0.05), driven by increase in perceptions of cognitive competence ( = 0.15, = 0.06).
This study demonstrates the feasibility of providing structured PA program to preschoolers. Moreover, these initial findings suggest that purposely designed, structured PA may help advance the social-emotional engagement and perceived competence of preschool children.
儿童的全面发展，包括身体、认知、情感和社会健康，可能是通往幸福和学业成功的最有效途径。主要目标是研究在学前班实施一项为期12周的结构化体育活动（PA）计划的可行性，该计划纳入认知、社会和情感元素。此外，本研究采用受试者内设计，考察了一次PA课程对课堂参与度的急性影响，以及从该计划的第一周到最后一周，儿童在感知能力和同伴接纳方面的变化。
27名学龄前儿童（平均年龄 = 4.2岁）在每周两次的PA计划前后完成了《幼儿感知能力和社会接纳图片量表》。在该计划的第一周和最后一周，分别在一次结构化PA课程之后（实验日）和没有PA的一天（对照日），对课堂上的言语、社交和情感参与情况进行了不引人注意的观察。对治疗保真度进行监测，以确保干预按设计实施。
与无PA日相比，儿童在PA课程后的课堂时间里表现出更长时间的言语和社交参与。在PA计划的最后一周，儿童在PA课程后也表现出更积极的情绪。尽管基线分数较高，但总体能力感知仍有显著提高（ = 0.15， = 0.05），这是由认知能力感知的增加所驱动的（ = 0.15， = 0.06）。
本研究证明了为学龄前儿童提供结构化PA计划的可行性。此外，这些初步研究结果表明，精心设计的结构化PA可能有助于提高学龄前儿童的社会情感参与度和感知能力。
