Using an Extracurricular Physical Activity Program to Enhance Social Skills
- 1 March 1995
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Learning Disabilities
- Vol. 28 (3) , 160-169
- https://doi.org/10.1177/002221949502800305
Abstract
Roy J. Shephard The value of an individually supervised physical activity program with a strong social skills component was examined for 45 students with learning disabilities (34 boys, 11 girls; mean age = 9.4 ±1.1 years). Subjects were randomly divided into an experimental group of 23 students who received two 90-minute exercise sessions for each of 10 weeks, and a control group of 22 students who received equal individualized attention through extra academic instruction. Scores for the Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency, teacher ratings of social behavior, and self-perceptions of academic and nonacademic competence showed strong effects of time, but no substantial time treatment interaction. Time effects on social behaviors persisted 3 months following treatment, suggesting that they reflected extra attention, rather than an expectancy, or halo, effect. There would seem to be merit in further exploring the value of extra attention, which here was provided to students with learning disabilities by volunteers with limited formal training.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Didactic methods for enhancing children's peer relations: A quantitative reviewClinical Psychology Review, 1992
- A Review of Social Interventions for Students with Learning DisabilitiesJournal of Learning Disabilities, 1991
- Self-Perceptions, Motivation, and Adjustment in Children with Learning DisabilitiesJournal of Learning Disabilities, 1990
- Psychological and Family Problems Associated with Learning Disabilities: Assessment and InterventionJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1989
- Toward a Metatheory of Learning DisabilitiesJournal of Learning Disabilities, 1988
- Perceived Competence and Self-Worth of LD and Normally Achieving StudentsLearning Disability Quarterly, 1987
- Sociometric Status and Solitary Play of LD Boys and GirlsJournal of Learning Disabilities, 1986
- Learning Disabilities Definitions Used by State Education DepartmentsLearning Disability Quarterly, 1985
- “One Jumped Off the Balance Beam”Journal of Learning Disabilities, 1983
- Motor Development m Children with Learning DisabilitiesJournal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 1982