Abstract
Aggressive behaviour among young people represent a universal concern and many children and adolescents report having been victimized or having bullied others. Cost-effective strategies are required to cope with this problem. The present study investigated the effect of play fighting on self-perceived aggression at primary school pupils. Using a crossover longitudinal design, 63 fourth and fifth-grade pupils (31 boys and 32 girls, mean age = 9.6 ± 0.5 years) took part in a controlled play fighting school-based intervention 2 days/week for 4 consecutive weeks, replicating the program adopted in a previous study with 13-year old junior high school students. Participants filled in the 12-item short version of the Aggression Questionnaire three times: baseline period (A0 and A1), and after the go fighting intervention (A2). A RM-ANOVA showed significant within subject differences among the three evaluation times (F=2.91, P = 0.003). At A1 Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility significantly decreased, while at the post-intervention, only Physical Aggression was significantly lower in comparison with A1 (A1 = 5.45 ± 2.47; A2 = 5.04 ± 2.41; F = 5.22, p = 0.005). Results provide some preliminary insight on the role that play fighting can have as a part of a physical education curriculum to cope with children antisocial and aggressive behaviour, confirming the encouraging conclusions of previous research in young adolescents.
Highlights
Aggressive behaviour among young people represent a global concern and a considerable number of children and adolescent report having been victimized or having bullied others [1]
The present study investigated the effect of play fighting on self-perceived aggression at primary school pupils
Results provide some preliminary insight on the role that play fighting can have as a part of a physical education curriculum to cope with children antisocial and aggressive behaviour, confirming the encouraging conclusions of previous research in young adolescents
Summary
Aggressive behaviour among young people represent a global concern and a considerable number of children and adolescent report having been victimized or having bullied others [1]. Emerging evidence suggests that health-related interventions (e.g. physical education and organized sports) may have consistent effects on a range of social and psychological outcomes linked with peer aggression [2]. The school context, especially physical education lessons, can provide an ideal setting to recognize and address children and adolescents’ socioemotional and behavioral problems [3,4]. Physical education and organized sport have been proved to have positive effects on antisocial and prosocial behaviours [5]. Programmed based on physical activities involving significant amounts of physical contact, such as go fighting, have been reported providing meaningful experiences in the emotional and social domains
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