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

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Daniela Guerreiro¹  José Marmeleira¹  Guida Veiga¹  Andreia Dias Rodrigues¹  Clarinda Pomar²  Elsa Lamy³ 

[1] Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal;Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal;Departamento de Pedagogia e Educação, Escola de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal;Centro de Investigação em Educação e Psicologia, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal;MED - Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal;CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade Évora, Évora, Portugal;

关键词: mind–body;    loose parts play;    relaxation;    social–emotional development;    children;    psychomotor intervention;    saliva;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1198199

 received in 2023-04-28, accepted in 2023-07-17,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionSocial–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.ObjectiveThe 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsBoth 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.ConclusionBody-oriented interventions effectively promote preschoolers’ social–emotional competence.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Dias Rodrigues, Marmeleira, Pomar, Lamy, Guerreiro and Veiga.