Fostering Holistic Development with a Designed Multisport Intervention in Physical Education: A Class-Randomized Cross-Over Trial
Abstract
Physical education (PE) is acknowledged as a relevant context for holistic child and youth development promotion. However, interventional research mostly builds on individual theories focused on specific outcome domains. This study presents a multisport enriched PE intervention that capitalizes on the intersection of different theory-based approaches to motor, cognitive and socio-emotional skills development promotion. With a cross-over design, 181 fifth graders, coming from a past class-randomized trial of enriched or traditional PE in their 1st–3rd grade, were stratified (based on their previous PE experience) and class-randomized to multisport enriched PE or control group. They completed pre-post assessments in motor and sport skills, cool (inhibition, working memory) and hot (decision making) executive functions, prosocial (empathy, cooperation) and antisocial (quick-temperedness, disruptiveness) behaviors. Children in the enriched PE group showed advantages in motor and prosocial skills after the intervention, which were linked by a mediation path, and an interactive effect of past and actual PE experience on decision making but no differential effects on other variables. The results suggest that a PE intervention designed with an integrative theory base, although not allowing disentangling the contribution of individual components to its efficacy, may help pursue benefits in motor and non-motor domains relevant to whole-child development.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Comparative effectiveness of GLP-1 receptor agonists on glycaemic control, body weight, and lipid profile for type 2 diabetes: systematic review and network meta-analysis
- Adverse effects of cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors on renal and arrhythmia events: meta-analysis of randomized trials
- Benefits and harms of drug treatment for type 2 diabetes: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
- Comparative effectiveness and safety of statins as a class and of specific statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: A systematic review, meta‐analysis, and network meta‐analysis of randomized trials with 94,283 participants
- Screen time increases overweight and obesity risk among adolescents: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis
- Exposure to WHO AWaRe antibiotics and isolation of multi-drug resistant bacteria: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.