Condición física y autoconcepto en estudiantes de diferentes edades en Extremadura (España)

Self-concept can be defined as the set of beliefs a person has about himself/herself, encompassing his/her personality and multiple dimensions. These dimensions study the perception of social and family relationships, emotional management, academic performance, and motor skills, establishing an important concept in the development of children and adolescents. On the other hand, physical fitness is a very important health parameter that encompasses both physical and psychological health. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the correlations between these two variables according to educational stage and sex. Kolmogorov-Smirnov was used to determine the normality of the data, Spearman's Rho test was applied for the correlational analysis of the dimensions of both tools (Self-concept scale AF-5 and Visual Analogical Scale of Physical Fitness Perception for Adolescents (VAS PFA, and a prediction model was also performed with the most relevant variables in students from 10 to 18 years old. The results showed high correlations between the physical dimensions and physical fitness, encompassing general, strength, and endurance as the educational stages progressed (<0.001). The overall development of school-aged children is of great interest because a positive self-concept can be influenced by physical well-being and optimal skills. In addition, children who have a positive self-concept are likely to be motivated to engage in sports and physical activities, which improves their physical health. Therefore, the health and education community could promote this through interventions in and out of the classroom for the best possible mental health.Departamento de Educación Física, Música y Artes Plástica

Attitudes towards disability in physical education. A n exploratory systematic review

Las personas con discapacidad han estado apartadas de la sociedad durante mucho tiempo por la visión patológica y médica que la sociedad tenía de este colectivo, limitándolas a su discapacidad. Afortunadamente, este tipo de comportamiento ha cambiado: la sociedad ha progresado hacia una práctica más inclusiva, haciendo que este colectivo participe en la sociedad; sin embargo, las actitudes no han progresado al mismo nivel. Estas conductas están influenciadas por diferentes factores que pueden ser predictores de ellas. En el ámbito escolar, la educación física supone un espacio en el que se pretende mejorar el desarrollo motor y conductual de los alumnos y las actitudes hacia la discapacidad, tanto de alumnos como de profesores, son imprescindibles para el desarrollo de los alumnos con discapacidad. Por esta razón, esta revisión tiene como objetivo identificar las variables más estudiadas y extraer los resultados más relevantes. Para conseguirlo, se ha procedido a la búsqueda de artículos en la base de datos Web Of Science, SCOPUS y Dialnet, codificando las variables tras pasar por los criterios de inclusión y exclusión. Se identificaron las principales variables estudiadas hasta la fecha, se analizaron los documentos de cada base de datos y las palabras clave de los artículos seleccionados y se sintetizaron los resultados, encontrando que el género femenino, las personas jóvenes que han tenido contacto previo con personas con discapacidad, los docentes con menos años de experiencia y el ámbito rural tienen mejores actitudes que el grupo comparado. Tanto alumnos como profesores tienen buenas actitudes hacia la discapacidad.People with disabilities have long been excluded from society because of the pathological and medical view that society had of this group, limiting them to their disability. Fortunately, these models have changed and progressed, where they are included in the changing process of society, although attitudes have not necessarily changed in the same way and at the same pace. These attitudes are influenced by different factors that can be predictors of them. In the school environment, physical education is a space in which the aim is to improve the motor and behavioral development of students, and attitudes towards disability, both of students and teachers, are essential for the development of students with disabilities. For this reason, this review aims to identify the most studied variables and extract the most relevant results. To achieve this, we searched for articles in different databases, coding the variables after passing through the inclusion criteria. The main variables studied to date were identified and the results were synthesized, finding that in general, the female gender, young people who have had previous contact with people with disabilities, teachers with fewer years of experience and the rural setting have better attitudes than the comparative group. Both students and teachers have good attitudes towards disability

Differences in Self-Concept and Its Dimensions in Students of the Third Cycle of Primary School, Obligatory Secondary Education, and Baccalaureate

Self-concept can be defined as a structured, multidimensional, and evolving construct that constitutes all the beliefs that an individual has about him/herself. Among its dimensions is the physical dimension that encompasses perceptions of physical attractiveness, self-esteem, and physical condition. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to look for differences between the educational stages from the third cycle of primary school and high school, as well as to study the possible correlations between the age groups and the dimensions of the scale. The AF-5 scale was used to measure self-concept, the Kolmogoronov–Smirnov test was applied to determine the normality of the data, Kruskall-Wallis to identify the differences between the dimensions of the scale and the educational stages, and Spearman’s Rho for correlations between dimensions and age groups. Significant differences were found in the academic, emotional, family, and physical dimensions between educational stages and between the scale as a single construct. Significant inverse correlations were also found between age groups and dimensions. Overall self-concept decreases with age and varies according to the educational stage

Exploratory systematic review: Identification of the most widely used physical activity questionnaires in the last five years

La actividad física es esencial para mantener una vida saludable y activa, definiéndose como cualquier forma de movimiento del cuerpo que requiere un gasto de energía y aumenta la frecuencia cardíaca. Engloba una amplia variedad de actividades, desde caminar y correr hasta practicar deportes y realizar ejercicios de fuerza, ayudando a fortalecer el sistema cardiovascular, reducir el riesgo de enfermedades crónicas como la diabetes y las enfermedades cardíacas, controlar el peso corporal, mejorar la salud mental y aumentar la resistencia y la fuerza muscular, mejorando la calidad de vida. Para la medición y la identificación de los hábitos de actividad física, se aplican distintos cuestionarios para poder realizar la recomendación de actividad física acorde con las características de cada persona. El objetivo de esta revisión exploratoria es identificar aquellos que más se aplican y en la población escogida, además de proporcionar información a los futuros investigadores acerca de las tendencias de publicación de este campo de conocimiento. Para la recopilación de artículos, se accedió a las bases de datos de WOS, Scopus y EBSCO, siguiendo un riguroso procedimiento para eliminar cualquier tipo de sesgo, con un total de 53 artículos, encontrando que los cuestionarios más aplicados son el IPAQ y el GPAQPhysical activity is essential for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. It refers to any form of body movement that requires energy expenditure and increases heart rate. It encompasses a wide variety of activities, ranging from walking and running to sports and strength training. Regular participation in physical activity has numerous health benefits. It helps strengthen the cardiovascular system, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, control body weight, improve mental health, and increase muscular endurance and strength. In addition, physical activity promotes better sleep quality, increases energy consumption, and improves cognitive ability. For the measurement and identification of physical activity habits, different questionnaires were applied to make recommendations for physical activity according to the characteristics of each person. The aim of this exploratory review is to identify those that are most commonly applied in the chosen population, as well as to provide information to future researchers about publication trends in this field of knowledg

Quality of Life as Perceived by Elite Mountain Athletes in Spain

Introduction: Physical activity is a great remedy to prevent diseases, as well as to keep us healthy and improve our physical, mental, and social health. One of the many benefits of physical exercise is emotional regulation, which allows us to provide an adequate response to everyday situations in addition to controlling our own emotions. High-level athletes face multifactorial stressors that can affect their quality of life. Materials and Methods: We explored the relationship between quality of life and emotional regulation using questionnaires that measure self-reported quality of life and how they cope with stressful situations in 54 mountain athletes with a mean age of 21.88 (SD = 7.88). We also investigated gender differences and demographic location in this population, as they are subjected to very high moments of stress in competition, with the risk that this modality entails. Results: Rural areas have better physical and psychological health, with higher scores on quality of life and adaptation dimensions. Women have a worse quality of life, specifically in psychological health, with worse coping mechanisms. Conclusions: It is important to design strategies that improve these mechanisms, specifically in urban areas and the female sex, to improve their emotional regulation and quality of life

Descriptive Study of Attitudes towards Corporal Expression in Physical Education Students in a Region of Spain

(1) Background: In recent years, there has been increasing interest in understanding the factors that determine students’ attitudes and interest in learning. The information that can be extracted from students’ attitudes is essential for teachers to plan their classes to capture their attention and promote learning. Thus, this study aimed to determine whether there were significant differences between the genders in the perception of students from Extremadura towards Corporal Expression (CE) in Physical Education (PE) classrooms. (2) Methods: A single-measure descriptive and correlational cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 889 PE students in the Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) stage from public schools in Extremadura, Spain, participated in the study; the subject had a mean age of 14.58 (SD = 1.47) and a BMI of 20.63 (SD = 3.46). Variables related to gender, age, height, and weight of the participants and a questionnaire on attitudes towards Corporal Expression were included. (3) Conclusions: Girls showed a more positive perception of the CE contents of the PE subject than boys; the latter showed a greater indifference to and a lower preference for these contents compared to other contents of the subject. On a general level, participants valued CE with a certain degree of positivity regarding its formative and educational usefulness and the expression of feelings and emotional self-management, and the pupils agreed with the methods and means used by the teacher to transmit the learning of CE

Higher physical activity level and perceived social support is associated with less psychological distress in people with anxiety

Introduction Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental illnesses in first world societies, generating discomfort in the people who suffer from it, and high expenses and economic losses in the society. The physical activity (PA) performed, together with the perceived social support (PSS) by people with anxiety could be related to the psychological distress of people with anxiety. Objectives To study the relationships between mental health and its dimensions, through Golberg’s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12), and the level of PA (PAL) and the PSS in the Spanish adult population with anxiety. Hypothesis A higher PAL, and a higher PSS, is related to a lower psychological distress in this population. Design and Methodology This study included 1,661 adults with anxiety, residents in Spain. It was a cross-sectional study with data obtained from the Spanish National Health Survey. A Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was applied to examine the data distribution of the variables. The median and interquartile range were used to characterize the sample for continuous variables, and absolute and relative frequencies were used for categorical variables. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to examine the differences between sexes. Dependence between PAL and sex was studied using the chi-square statistic. A Krustal–Wallis test was used to evaluate the existence of differences in the baseline medians on the GHQ-12, according to PAL level. Finally, the correlations between mental health and its dimensions with PAL and the Duke-UNC-11 scores were analysed, obtaining Spearman’s rho and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results Moderate inverse correlations were found between the GHQ-12 and: PAL (rho: −0.219); PSS (r: −0.347). PAL and PSS presented moderate inverse correlations with successful coping (rho: −0.206 and r: −0.325), self-esteem (rho: −0.222 and r: −0.333) and stress (rho: −0.158 and r: −0.288). Conclusions Greater PAL and social support are associated with reduced psychological distress in people with anxiety

Inclusive Education in Primary and Secondary School: Perception of Teacher Training

Introduction. Inclusive education is one of the main objectives of the educational system toward achieving equal opportunities among students. To this end, teacher training plays an important role in the different educational stages. Objectives. To analyze the perceived readiness of teachers for inclusive education and to see the differences in primary and secondary education. Methods: A total of 961 active teachers from public schools, 53.3% Primary and 46.7% Secondary Education, were analyzed by means of a questionnaire on Teachers’ perceptions about their preparation for inclusive education and the CEFI-R instrument. Results. There are statistically significant differences between the two stages in the first questionnaire (question 1: p = 0.03; question 2: p p < 0.01) and also, in 3 of the four CEFI-R dimensions, with the primary score being higher. Conclusions: This study shows that there is a large percentage of teachers who believe that their initial training is insufficient to deal with student diversity. In addition, most of them state that continuous training has helped them to improve inclusive education and that they would be willing to attend training courses on inclusion, although in secondary school, the predisposition is lower than in high school. On the other hand, teachers of both educational stages show a mostly favorable attitude according to the CEFI-R, being higher in primary than in secondary school. In this sense, the public administration has work to do