Effects of Body-Oriented Interventions on Preschoolers' Social-Emotional Competence: A Systematic Review

The effects of physical exercise on fitness and emotion in Chinese preschoolers

BACKGROUND

The global prevalence of overweight and obesity in children under the age of five has emerged as a significant issue in recent years. Physical activity and fitness among children and adolescents have declined globally in the past few decades. Studies have indicated a link between levels of physical activity and cognitive performance in preschool children.

METHODS

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of three different types of physical education programmes on the physical fitness and emotional competence of 239 preschoolers(mean age = 5.49 ± 0.60 years, 54.4% boys)in Haikou, China. The preschoolers were grouped based on which programme they were assigned to: the "Hello Sunshine" ball skills programme (HS group), ordinary physical education (OPE group), and free play (FP group). The "Hello Sunshine" ball skills programme used both a structured curriculum design and autonomous activity selection during outdoor time., which were conducive to children's physical fitness.The National Physical Fitness Measurement Standards Manual and the shortened version of the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale (SCBE-30) were used to assess physical fitness and emotional competence, respectively. These assessments were conducted both before and after the ten-week intervention period. The analysis utilised a mixed-effects model for physical fitness and a mixed-model ANOVA for the SCBE data.

RESULTS

The HS group and OPE group demonstrated significantly improvement in the standing long jump, 10-m shuttle run and balance beam walking than the FP group; meanwhile, only anxious-withdrawal levels showed a significant grouping effect and group-by-time interaction effect. After the intervention, both the HS group and the FP group showed significantly lower scores for anxiety compared to the OPE group, with no significant difference observed between the HS and FP groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggested that structured ball skills programmes may promote physical fitness and reduce anxiety. The integration of effective physical exercise programmes into preschool curricula holds the potential for promoting holistic development.

Nature and success: Outdoor play is linked to school readiness

BACKGROUND

and Purpose: Outdoor play is widely acknowledged for its benefits to physical health and psychological well-being, yet its relationship with school readiness remains understudied in preschoolers. To address this gap in the literature, this study investigated how outdoor play relates to cognitive and psychosocial development among a nationally representative sample of preschoolers.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Data on the duration of outdoor play (on weekdays and weekends) and specific cognitive and psychosocial outcome variables (i.e., early learning skills, self-regulation, social-emotional development, and flourishing) were collected via questionnaires provided to the caregivers of preschoolers. Logistic regressions were performed to examine the associations between outdoor play with cognitive and psychosocial outcomes while adjusting for covariates and calculate the odds ratio with 95 % confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS

Among the 10,682 preschoolers (i.e., 3-5y) included in this study (i.e., 5558 boys, Mage = 3.98 ± 0.99 years), there was a lower percentage of preschoolers engaged in outdoor play for over 3 h per day on weekdays (33.39 %) compared to weekends (56.85 %). Outdoor play in preschoolers is positively associated with various domains of school readiness, and engaging in outdoor play for more than 3 h per day is associated with more beneficial outcomes.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this cross-sectional study suggest that promoting outdoor play among preschoolers can be an effective strategy for enhancing cognitive, social, and emotional development in this age group although further intervention studies are required to buttress this assumption empirically.

Do My Reactions Outweigh My Actions? The Relation between Reactive and Proactive Aggression with Peer Acceptance in Preschoolers

Aggressive behaviors negatively impact peer relations starting from an early age. However, not all aggressive acts have the same underlying motivations. Reactive aggression arises as a response to an antecedent behavior of someone else, whereas proactive aggression is initiated by the aggressor and is instrumental. In this study, we aim to understand the relation between reactive and proactive aggression and peer acceptance in preschoolers. Parents of 110 children aged between 3 and 6 years old rated their children's manifestation of reactive and proactive aggressive behaviors. To assess the children's peer acceptance score within their class, they completed a paired comparisons task. The outcomes confirmed that reactive aggression in particular is negatively related to peer acceptance at the preschool age. Our results provide insights for the needs and directions of future research and interventions.

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, Mage = 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 (η2 > 0.14) were found for most of the variables related to self-regulation and small (η2 > 0.01), medium (η2 > 0.06) and large size effects (η2 > 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.

Body-oriented interventions to promote preschoolers' social-emotional competence: a quasi-experimental study

Introduction

Social-emotional competence is foundational to children's health and well-being. Body-oriented interventions, such as relaxation or play based interventions, have been shown to promote social-emotional competence, however more studies are needed to better understand the specific benefits of each type of body-oriented approach.

Objective

The present study aimed to examine the chronic and the acute effects of three body-oriented intervention programs (loose parts play, relaxation and combining loose parts play and relaxation) on preschoolers' social-emotional competence.

Methods

A quasi-experimental study was carried out, including 62 preschoolers (4.44 ± 0.93 years) that were allocated into 4 groups: Loose Parts Play program (n = 17); Relaxation program (n = 17); Combined program (n = 13); and Waitlist Control Group (no intervention; n = 15). All three intervention programs had a 12-week duration, with biweekly sessions of 30-min, implemented in the preschool outdoors. To examine the chronic effects of the intervention programs, all instruments (parents' and preschool teacher's questionnaires, tasks and saliva) were collected at baseline and after the 12-week period. To examine the acute effects, saliva samples were collected immediately before and after the 1st and the 24th sessions, with a total of 4 collections per child.

Results

Both loose parts play and relaxation interventions significantly improved (p < 0.05) children's positive emotion expression. Several within-groups changes were found for the Loose parts play, Relaxation and Combined programs.

Conclusion

Body-oriented interventions effectively promote preschoolers' social-emotional competence.