Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders
IntroductionGroup sports activities have been demonstrated to have an impact on the physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsThus, this work, taking different types of group sports as the primary variable, explored the impact of 12-wee...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| author | Yu Xing Yu Xing Shuaibin Huang Yatong Zhao Xueping Wu |
| author_facet | Yu Xing Yu Xing Shuaibin Huang Yatong Zhao Xueping Wu |
| author_sort | Yu Xing |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionGroup sports activities have been demonstrated to have an impact on the physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsThus, 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 (N = 11) and Control group 1 (N = 10), while healthy children of the same age were selected as Control group 2 (N = 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.Results and discussionAfter the intervention, the sitting time of children in the experimental group was significantly reduced (t = −12.735, p < 0.001, Cohen d = 2.75), and the time of moderate and high-intensity physical activity was significantly increased (t = −8.79, p < 0.001, Cohen d = 1.82). In social interaction ability, the duration of loneliness was significantly reduced (t = −2.567, p < 0.017, Cohen d = 0.57), and the duration of joint participation (t = −3.009, p < 0.007, Cohen d = 0.02) and the regular game (t = −2.511, p < 0.026, Cohen d = 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. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-b429ba53842f4628a52ced2c422d421b2025-02-06T14:20:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-02-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.14966601496660Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disordersYu Xing0Yu Xing1Shuaibin Huang2Yatong Zhao3Xueping Wu4School of Physical Education, Hainan University, Haikou, ChinaHainan 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, ChinaSchool of Physical Education, Hainan University, Haikou, ChinaSchool of Physical Education, Hainan University, Haikou, ChinaSchool of Physical Education and Training, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, ChinaIntroductionGroup sports activities have been demonstrated to have an impact on the physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).MethodsThus, 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 (N = 11) and Control group 1 (N = 10), while healthy children of the same age were selected as Control group 2 (N = 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.Results and discussionAfter the intervention, the sitting time of children in the experimental group was significantly reduced (t = −12.735, p < 0.001, Cohen d = 2.75), and the time of moderate and high-intensity physical activity was significantly increased (t = −8.79, p < 0.001, Cohen d = 1.82). In social interaction ability, the duration of loneliness was significantly reduced (t = −2.567, p < 0.017, Cohen d = 0.57), and the duration of joint participation (t = −3.009, p < 0.007, Cohen d = 0.02) and the regular game (t = −2.511, p < 0.026, Cohen d = 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.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1496660/fullautism spectrum disorderchildrengroup sports activitiesphysical activitysocial interaction ability |
| spellingShingle | Yu Xing Yu Xing Shuaibin Huang Yatong Zhao Xueping Wu Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders Frontiers in Psychology autism spectrum disorder children group sports activities physical activity social interaction ability |
| title | Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders |
| title_full | Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders |
| title_fullStr | Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders |
| title_short | Effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders |
| title_sort | effects of group sports activities on physical activity and social interaction abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders |
| topic | autism spectrum disorder children group sports activities physical activity social interaction ability |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1496660/full |
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