Rationale, design and methods for a randomised and controlled trial to evaluate "Animal Fun" - a program designed to enhance physical and mental health in young children

Abstract

BackgroundChildren with poor motor ability have been found to engage less in physical activities than other children, and a lack of physical activity has been linked to problems such as obesity, lowered bone mineral density and cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, if children are confident with their fine and gross motor skills, they are more likely to engage in physical activities such as sports, crafts, dancing and other physical activity programs outside of the school curriculum which are important activities for psychosocial development. The primary objective of this project is to comprehensively evaluate a whole of class physical activity program called Animal Fun designed for Pre-Primary children. This program was designed to improve the child's movement skills, both fine and gross, and their perceptions of their movement ability, promote appropriate social skills and improve social-emotional development.MethodsThe proposed randomized and controlled trial uses a multivariate nested cohort design to examine the physical (motor coordination) and psychosocial (self perceptions, anxiety, social competence) outcomes of the program. The Animal Fun program is a teacher delivered universal program incorporating animal actions to facilitate motor skill and social skill acquisition and practice. Pre-intervention scores on motor and psychosocial variables for six control schools and six intervention schools will be compared with post-intervention scores (end of Pre-Primary year) and scores taken 12 months later after the children's transition to primary school Year 1. 520 children aged 4.5 to 6 years will be recruited and it is anticipated that 360 children will be retained to the 1 year follow-up. There will be equal numbers of boys and girls.DiscussionIf this program is found to improve the child's motor and psychosocial skills, this will assist in the child's transition into the first year of school. As a result of these changes, it is anticipated that children will have greater enjoyment participating in physical activities which will further promote long term physical and mental health.Trial registrationThis trial is registered in the Australian and New Zealand Clinical trials Registry (ACTRN12609000869279).

The Mediating Role of Social Skills in the Relationship between Motor Ability and Internalizing Symptoms in Pre‐primary Children

“…Children for this study were drawn from a typically developing sample of 532 children ranging from 4 years and 3 months to 6 years and 11 months of age ( M = 5 years and 5 months, SD = 4.91). These children were involved in an intervention study (Piek et al, ) involving 12 low socio‐economic status pre‐primary schools in metropolitan and surrounding regional areas. Although we had access to longitudinal data, we chose to conduct cross‐sectional analyses on the pre‐test scores because of possible contamination from the intervention at subsequent assessments.…”

The relationship between motor skills and psychosocial factors in young children: A test of the elaborated environmental stress hypothesis

“…Other studies have also identified similar relationships where peer problems mediate the relationship between motor skills and internalizing problems in community samples of children (Wagner et al ., ; Wilson et al ., ). Improved perceived self‐competence and peer relationships have also been identified as potential targets in psychomotor interventions that aim to improve motor skills and psychosocial outcomes in children (Piek et al ., ). Consequently, these factors have been included in the current study to examine the extent to which they mediate the relationship between motor skills and internalizing problems.…”

Measure reliability of the Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Children Scale via Rasch analysis

“…Data were collected longitudinally, with pre‐test, post‐test (6 months later), and follow‐up (18 months later) data provided by participants as outlined by Piek et al . () as part of the Animal Fun study (Piek et al ., ).…”

“…No significant differences in age or verbal IQ ( M = 94.46, SD = 12.23) were found between boys and girls (i.e., independent‐sample t coefficient p > .05). Participants were recruited and measured as part of their involvement in the Animal Fun program (see Piek et al ., ). Linacre () demonstrated that a sample size of this magnitude would be expected to provide stable person measure and item calibration estimates within half a logit (with a calculable 99% CI) of accuracy.…”

“…Parents with children enrolled in these schools received study invitations, which detailed the larger study's purpose, and what their child's participation would involve. Children whose parents provided written consent to participate in the study, and who were in one of the six schools randomly assigned to the intervention condition, participated in the Animal Fun program activities (Piek et al ., ). Data, including the PSPCSA scores, were collected from all children involved in the study at pre‐intervention, post‐intervention (6 months), and at follow‐up (18 months).…”