Xing Yu, Huang Shuaibin, Zhao Yatong, Wu Xueping
School of Physical Education, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Sports and Health Promotion, Key Laboratory of Emergency and Trauma, Ministry of Education, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Feb 6;15:1496660. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1496660. eCollection 2024.
Group sports activities have been demonstrated to have an impact on the physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Thus, this work, taking different types of group sports as the primary variable, explored the impact of 12-week group sports activities on the physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with ASD. A quasi-experimental design was used to divide 21 children with ASD into Experimental group ( = 11) and Control group 1 ( = 10), while healthy children of the same age were selected as Control group 2 ( = 12). The experimental group performed group sports activities for 60 min/time, 4 times/week, for a total of 12 weeks, while the control group maintained the traditional sports activities of Peizhi School. Physical activity was monitored using a three-axis accelerometer (Model: ActiGraph GT3X+), and social interaction ability was measured using the playground observation of peer engagement (POPE) observation scale to evaluate the social interaction states of children in the experimental group after the physical activities.
After the intervention, the sitting time of children in the experimental group was significantly reduced ( = -12.735, < 0.001, Cohen = 2.75), and the time of moderate and high-intensity physical activity was significantly increased ( = -8.79, < 0.001, Cohen = 1.82). In social interaction ability, the duration of loneliness was significantly reduced ( = -2.567, < 0.017, Cohen = 0.57), and the duration of joint participation ( = -3.009, < 0.007, Cohen = 0.02) and the regular game ( = -2.511, < 0.026, Cohen = 0.46) were significantly increased, respectively. 4 weeks after the intervention, the sedentary behavior and loneliness of the experimental group both continued to decrease. Group physical activities can improve the physical activity levels and social interaction skills of children with ASD and have a good effect on the maintenance.
团体体育活动已被证明会对自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的身体活动和社交互动能力产生影响。
因此，本研究以不同类型的团体体育活动为主要变量，探讨了为期12周的团体体育活动对ASD儿童身体活动和社交互动能力的影响。采用准实验设计，将21名ASD儿童分为实验组（n = 11）和对照组1（n = 10），同时选取同年龄段的健康儿童作为对照组2（n = 12）。实验组进行团体体育活动，每次60分钟，每周4次，共12周，而对照组维持培智学校的传统体育活动。使用三轴加速度计（型号：ActiGraph GT3X+）监测身体活动情况，并使用同伴参与操场观察（POPE）观察量表测量社交互动能力，以评估实验组儿童体育活动后的社交互动状态。
干预后，实验组儿童的久坐时间显著减少（t = -12.735，p < 0.001，Cohen's d = 2.75），中度和高强度身体活动时间显著增加（t = -8.79，p < 0.001，Cohen's d = 1.82）。在社交互动能力方面，孤独持续时间显著减少（t = -2.567，p < 0.017，Cohen's d = 0.57），联合参与持续时间（t = -3.009，p < 0.007，Cohen's d = 0.02）和常规游戏持续时间（t = -2.511，p < 0.026，Cohen's d = 0.46）分别显著增加。干预4周后，实验组的久坐行为和孤独感均持续下降。团体体育活动可以提高ASD儿童的身体活动水平和社交互动技能，并在维持方面有良好效果。
