Early Socio-Emotional Difficulty as a Childhood Barrier to the Expected Benefits of Active Play: Associated Risks for School Engagement in Adolescence.

Publisher: MDPI Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101238455 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1660-4601 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 16604601 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int J Environ Res Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Basel : MDPI, c2004-

Exercise*/psychology ; Schools*; Humans ; Adolescent ; Male ; Child ; Female ; Longitudinal Studies ; Canada ; Play and Playthings/psychology ; Anxiety/psychology ; Child Behavior/psychology ; Emotions ; Sports/psychology

Active play allows children to develop social and cognitive skills, which could lead to higher school engagement. Little is known about the role of child socioemotional difficulty in these associations. This study aims to examine the interaction between active play and socioemotional difficulty in childhood and their prospective association with academic engagement in adolescence. The participants were 4537 children (51.1% boys) who were longitudinally followed, between ages 6 and 14 years, from the National Longitudinal Study on Children and Youth (NLSCY), Canada. Active play (weekly organized sport and unstructured physical activity outside of school hours) and child behavior (hyperactivity, anxiety, and relational difficulties) were reported by mothers for their children at age 6 years. Academic engagement was self-reported at age 14 years. Unstructured physical activity predicted lower subsequent school engagement for boys (β = -0.057, p < 0.05). Boys with high anxiety symptoms and high relational aggression who participated in more unstructured physical activity in childhood were subsequently less engaged in school (respectively, β = -0.066, p < 0.05 and β = -0.062, p < 0.05). Girls who partook in more organized sports showed lower school engagement in adolescence when they had high anxiety symptoms (β = -0.067, p < 0.05). Although past studies have highlighted the contribution of active play to school engagement, certain socioemotional difficulties could impede the child's ability to reap its benefits.

Am J Occup Ther. 2023 May 1;77(3):. (PMID: 37352433)
J Sci Med Sport. 2018 Jan;21(1):63-68. (PMID: 28751075)
Front Psychol. 2022 Sep 23;13:958286. (PMID: 36211851)
Prev Med. 2017 Feb;95:7-13. (PMID: 27923668)
Biol Psychiatry. 2019 Sep 15;86(6):421-432. (PMID: 31221426)
Can J Public Health. 2014 Feb 04;105(1):e22-7. (PMID: 24735692)
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jan 11;16(2):. (PMID: 30641874)
J Youth Adolesc. 2020 Nov;49(11):2327-2346. (PMID: 32710241)
Prev Med. 2016 Jul;88:147-52. (PMID: 27090920)
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2017 Jul 6;14(1):89. (PMID: 28683749)
Dev Psychopathol. 2020 Aug;32(3):961-974. (PMID: 31345275)
J Gen Psychol. 2020 Jan-Mar;147(1):18-42. (PMID: 31084410)
Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2014 Sep;19(3):163-170. (PMID: 32878369)
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jun 12;16(12):. (PMID: 31212786)
Can J Public Health. 2020 Dec;111(6):988-994. (PMID: 33057923)
Aggress Behav. 2024 Jan;50(1):e22115. (PMID: 37724618)
J Phys Act Health. 2017 Feb;14(2):155-166. (PMID: 27775475)
Pediatr Rev. 2022 Nov 1;43(11):618-630. (PMID: 36316261)
PLoS One. 2016 Mar 09;11(3):e0150041. (PMID: 26960199)
J Prim Care Community Health. 2022 Jan-Dec;13:21501319221114842. (PMID: 35942948)
Front Psychol. 2021 Jun 03;12:690828. (PMID: 34149576)
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2021 Mar 18;18(1):41. (PMID: 33736668)
Scand J Caring Sci. 2015 Jun;29(2):234-47. (PMID: 24953100)
J Atten Disord. 2019 Feb;23(4):307-324. (PMID: 25964449)
Br J Educ Psychol. 2015 Dec;85(4):498-518. (PMID: 26446905)
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jun 28;15(7):. (PMID: 29958386)
Can J Public Health. 2021 Feb;112(1):120-127. (PMID: 32757122)
J Sports Sci Med. 2021 Mar 01;20(1):86-93. (PMID: 33707991)
Child Dev. 2014 Mar-Apr;85(2):722-37. (PMID: 23895361)
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020 Jul 6;17(1):85. (PMID: 32631350)
BMJ Open. 2018 Oct 17;8(10):e021119. (PMID: 30337306)
Br J Educ Psychol. 2020 Jun;90 Suppl 1:193-209. (PMID: 31654412)
Sports Med. 2019 Sep;49(9):1383-1410. (PMID: 30993594)
Front Psychol. 2021 Jul 14;12:708157. (PMID: 34335423)
PLoS One. 2018 Apr 4;13(4):e0193700. (PMID: 29617366)
J Health Commun. 2010;15 Suppl 2:34-41. (PMID: 20845191)
BMC Public Health. 2020 Nov 2;20(1):1639. (PMID: 33138800)
Nutrients. 2020 Mar 09;12(3):. (PMID: 32182889)
J Adolesc Health. 2018 Mar;62(3):334-340. (PMID: 29229462)

435-2017-0784 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; 862-2017-0009 Sport Canada Research Initiative; 330811 Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et culture

Keywords: active play; child development; longitudinal analyses; physical activity; school engagement

Date Created: 20241026 Date Completed: 20241026 Latest Revision: 20241028

20241028

PMC11507831

10.3390/ijerph21101353

39457326