OUT to IN: a body-oriented intervention program to promote preschoolers' self-regulation and relationship skills in the outdoors.

INTRODUCTION

Time for movement and outdoor experiences has decreased in children's daily lives. Nevertheless, a growing body of research has shown that body-oriented interventions and outdoor time benefit preschoolers' social-emotional development, a foundation for mental health. OUT to IN is a body-oriented intervention program implemented outdoors, designed to promote preschoolers' social-emotional competence. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of OUT to IN on preschoolers' self-regulation and relationship skills.

METHODS

A cluster randomized trial with multi-method and multi-informant assessment was implemented including 233 children between 3 and 6 years (122 boys,  = 5.07 years), from 4 preschools (8 groups with OUT to IN intervention, 4 groups without intervention - control group). The 153 children allocated to the OUT to IN group participated in biweekly sessions for 10 weeks. OUT to IN sessions followed a body-oriented approach comprising exercise play, relaxation, and symbolization activities, implemented outdoors by a psychomotor therapist and the preschool teacher. Sessions enabled children to feel, observe and control their bodily states and understand the relationship between their bodies and emotions. Teachers participated in a brief course and on 20 biweekly relaxation sessions. Children's self-regulation was measured through specific tasks and a parent questionnaire. Relationship skills (i.e., empathy, communication, cooperation and sociability) were measured through parents' and preschool teachers' questionnaires. Mann-Whitney test was used to study differences at baseline between the OUT to IN group and the control group, and to study differences in the 10-week changes between both groups. Wilcoxon Test was used for intragroup comparisons.

RESULTS

After the 10-week intervention period, children who participated in OUT to IN showed significant improvements on self-regulation and relationship skills (empathy, cooperation and sociability), in comparison to the control group who did not show any significant improvements. Large size effects ( > 0.14) were found for most of the variables related to self-regulation and small ( > 0.01), medium ( > 0.06) and large size effects ( > 0.14) were found for the variables related to relationship skills.

CONCLUSION

OUT to IN showed to be an effective body-oriented intervention program in improving children's self-regulation and relationship skills, which are recognized foundations for mental health and well-being.