Spyridoul Vzou*,Constntine MntisGyle Luze,Jcqueline S.Krogh

aDepartment of Kinesiolog y,Iowa State University,Ames,IA 50011,USA

bDepartment of Human Development and Family Studies,Iowa State University,Ames,IA 50011,USA

Self-perceptions and social–emotional classroom engagement following structured physical activity among preschoolers:A feasibility study

Spyridoula Vazoua,*,Constantine Mantisa,Gayle Luzeb,Jacqueline S.Kroghb

aDepartment of Kinesiolog y,Iowa State University,Ames,IA 50011,USA

bDepartment of Human Development and Family Studies,Iowa State University,Ames,IA 50011,USA

Background:The well-rounded development of the child,including physical,cognitive,emotional,and social health,may be the most ef ficient route to well-being and academic success.The primary goal was to investigate the feasibility of implementing a 12-week structured program of physical activity(PA)incorporating cognitive,social,and emotional elements in preschool.Additionally,this study,using a within-subject design, examined the acute effects of a PA session on classroom engagement and changes on perceived competence and peer acceptance from the first to the last week of the program.

Methods:Twenty-seven preschoolers(mean age=4.2 years)completed the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children before and after a twice-weekly PA program.Unobtrusive classroom observations were conducted for verbal,social,and affective engagement during the first and last week of the program,both following a structured PA session(experimental day)and on a day without PA (control day).Treatment fidelity was monitored to ensure that the intervention was delivered as designed.

Results:The children exhibited longer periods of verbal and social engagement during classroom periods that followed PA sessions than on non-PA days.Children also expressed more positive affect following PA sessions during the last week of the PA program.Despite high baseline scores, perceptions ofgeneralcompetence increased meaningfully(η2=0.15,p=0.05),driven by increase in perceptionsofcognitive competence(η2=0.15,p=0.06).

Conclusion:This study demonstrates the feasibility of providing structured PA program to preschoolers.Moreover,these initial findings suggest that purposely designed,structured PA may help advance the social–emotional engagement and perceived competence of preschool children.

?2017 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Shanghai University of Sport.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Acute;Intervention;Long-term effects;Movement;Peer acceptance;Perceived competence

1.Introduction

Despite a widespread belief that young children are very physically active,research shows that young children in preschool environments mostly engage in sedentary activities,1even during unstructured free play and recess periods.2Recent guidelines recommend thatpreschoolchildren should engage in atleast60 min of structured physical activity(PA)daily(e.g.,activities that focus on fundamental motor skill development)and at least 60 min of unstructured PA(e.g.,through play,usually in the outdoor playground area).3However,preschool children do not meet these guidelines4and opportunities for physically active play led by theteacher(both outdoors and indoors)are limited.5In the US,standards that require daily PA in preschoolers exist only in few of the states.6National organizations3,7acknowledge that preschool programs provide opportunities for children to be physically active during the day.They also recommend possible actions for increasing the PA levels of preschool children,including structured PA. Programs that promote both structured and unstructured PA could contribute to increasing the PAlevelsofpreschoolersaccording to a recent meta-analysis.8Structured PA programs can also stimulate the development of fundamental motor skills,3which may,in turn, lead to more competence9and higher engagement in PA later in life.10The relationship between PAand motorskillcompetence has been proposed to bereciprocal.11Thatis,children with higherlevels of perceived and actual competence are more likely to engage in PAs,which,in turn,may lead to further skill development and increased perceived competence.10–12

Research has shown that the development of gross motor skills during preschool is associated with scholastic,social,and emotional development in the subsequent first year of school,13as well as with cognitive function later in life.14Diamond and Lee15also identi fied cognitively engaging,structured PA programs to be bene ficial for the cognitive function of children during the preschooland schoolyears.In addition,a burgeoning literature supports the notion that PA could serve as the basis of a holistic approach to child development by supporting perceptions of physical and social competence.16,17For example,participation in sport games has been found to be associated with fewer emotional and peer-relationship problems and more prosocial behaviors in 5-year-old children.18Physical play in the preschool classroom has also been found to be positively associated with the emotional competence of boys in the context of dyadic relationships with peers.19Harter20has considered the social environment to be very important in affecting feelings of competence and socialacceptance.Moreover,perceived competence may affect motivation and behavior directly and to a greater extent than actual competence.20

A PA environment that encourages accomplishments and is socially supportive may foster the development of high-quality peer relationships and perceptions of physical and social competence.21–23Structured PAprogramsdeveloped on the basis of motivation theories have successfully increased perceptions of physical competence among preschoolers.24,25However,the effects of structured PA on perceptions of cognitive competence and peer acceptance among preschool children have not been examined.Arecentreview on PAand psychosocialwell-being in early childhood highlighted that intervention studies are absent and even the numberofcross-sectionalstudiesislimited.26Thus, the primary purpose ofthe presentstudy wasto assesschangesin perceptions of physical competence,cognitive competence,and peer acceptance from the beginning to the end of a 12-week structured PA program among preschoolers.

The second purpose of this study was to evaluate the acute effects of structured PA on classroom engagement among preschoolers.The preschoolyears,when children are introduced to a school-like environment,are recognized for their crucial role in laying the foundation for school success.Child development experts emphasized that,to optimize academic outcomes,the education system should nurture the social,emotional,physical, and cognitive abilities of children.27,28Students do not learn passively or in isolation but rather in synergy with educators and peers.The experiences that students derive from their classroom interactionsdeterminetheirlevelofengagementand motivation.29These experiences are shaped by such factors as learning to regulate emotions,problem-solve,value contributions to the group,and communicate with teachers and peers.Collectively, these cognitive,social,and emotional skills help students thrive within a positive schoolenvironmentthatfacilitatestheircomprehension of concepts,enhances their effort,fosters their overall growth,and,ultimately,promotes academic achievement.30Early social competence skills in the classroom have been associated with multiple outcomes across all major domains,including education,employment,and psychological well-being 20 years later.31Arecentmeta analysisshowed thatschool-based interventions resulted in meaningful improvements(effect size=0.57, 95%con fidence interval(CI)from 0.48 to 0.67)in social and emotional skills,in addition to signi ficant gains in attitudes, school conduct,and academic performance.32

Expertsasserted thatPAenvironmentsprovide multiple opportunities for the development of social and emotional skills.11However,supporting evidence focuses on adolescents.33–36There is presently no evidence on the effects of PA programs on the social and emotional skills of preschoolers.Thus,the present study was based on the idea that exposure to structured PA, speci fically targeting cognitive,social,and emotional elements, may have a positive immediate effect on classroom engagement.

To summarize,the overall goal of this study was to investigate the feasibility of implementing a 12-week structured PA program incorporating cognitive,social,and emotional elements in preschool.Two speci fic purposes were included under this general goal.The first purpose was to assess the changes in perceived physicalcompetence,cognitive competence,and peeracceptance from the beginning to the end of the PA intervention.The second purpose was to examine the effects of a 30 min period of structured PA on the classroom engagement of preschoolers during the ensuing classroom period.To this end,classroom engagement was compared between a day with PA and a day without PA,both at the beginning and at the end of the 12-week PA intervention. We predicted that preschoolers would manifest higher levels of classroom engagement after PA and this bene fit would be stronger at the end of the implementation period.

2.Materials and methods

2.1.Participants

The study wasconducted atone early childhood center,located within a 1-mile radius from a midsize Midwestern city in the US. The early childhood center has 2 preschool classes for 3–5-yearold children.Twenty-seven preschoolers from these 2 classes(11 boys,16 girls,aged 4.20±0.64 years,80%of enrolled children) participated with signed parental consent.Fifty-two percent of students were Caucasian,40.5%were Asian,and 7.5%were African-American.The study was approved by the Iowa State University InstitutionalReview Board.Priorto the study,permission was granted by the directorofthe early childhood centerand the teachers.

2.2.Design and treatments

The study used a within-subject design,with classes serving as their own controls.A 12-week structured PA curriculum was provided to all students.The PA sessions did not replace recess or any other regularly scheduled activities.

Perceptions of competence and peer acceptance were assessed individually,using pictorial self-report scales,before and after the implementation period.Furthermore,observations were conducted in a way that allowed the examination of both the longitudinal effect of the intervention and the acute effect of a PA sessions.Speci fically,to examine the longitudinal effect of the intervention,observations of classroom behavior(from an adjacent observation room)were conducted during the first and last week of the 12-week implementation period at the sametime of day(between 10:30 a.m.and 11:30 a.m.).To assess the acute effect of a structured PA session,observations were conducted both immediately after a PA session(experimental day) and on a day without PA(control day).

All classroom observations were conducted by the same researcher.A research assistant also observed for 56%of the total observations.Both researchers had received prior training until＞90%consistency was achieved.For the observed sessions during which both observers were present,inter-rater reliability was excellent(k=0.99).

The PA program consisted of a 30 min structured PA session during the morning,2 days per week for 12 consecutive weeks, based on the National Standards for children aged 3–5 years.24The sessions took place at either a gymnasium or an atrium adjacentto the schooland were delivered by one ofthe researchers,aided by trained undergraduate students,all with previous experience in instructing PAs to preschool children.

Each session consisted of(1)a 2–3 min introduction and warm-up activity,(2)a 25 min period ofdevelopmentally appropriate physical games focusing on fundamental motor skills, with appropriate progression and on opportunitiesforcognitive, social,and emotional skills,and(3)a 2–3 min closure for re flection and discussion.Examples of the games and their foci are presented in Table 1.Randomly selected PAsessions(45%of the total number)were observed by a researcher and a trained undergraduate student(not involved in the design of the study) and a fidelity checklist was completed.

2.3.Measures

2.3.1.Fidelity checklist

A fidelity checklist was developed to assess whether the PA program was implemented as originally planned(Table 2).Speci fically,the checklist assessed whether the PA intervention provided opportunitiesto preschoolersfor:(1)cognitive engagement(i.e.,to respond verbally to questions or act in cognitively challenging and unstable tasks),(2)self-control(i.e.,to show inhibition and not act spontaneously),(3)social or emotional engagement(i.e.,to acknowledge,express,orregulate emotions and communicate or collaborate with their peers and teacher), (4)fundamental motor skill development(i.e.,tasks that target practicing locomotor,nonlocomotor,and manipulative movement skills),and(5)moderate-to-vigorous PA(i.e.,walking or higher intensity of activities).In addition,the total duration of the lesson was recorded.

2.3.2.Classroom engagement

Theobserverrating sheetdeveloped forthisstudy wasbased on the social–emotional model of Denham and Brown30and was modeled after a similar classroom engagement tool for adolescents,developed by Reeve et al.37It included observations for the following:(1)verbal engagement(i.e.,asks and answers questions,participates in discussions),(2)social engagement(i.e., interacts with other children,plays with at least one other child), and(3)affective engagement(i.e.,negative affect=looks bored, unhappy,sad,angry through facial expressions and visible bodily manifestations;neutral affect=does not express any affective tone;positive affect=looks interested in the assigned activity,smiles,laughs,expresses signs that she/he is having fun).Observations were recorded using the Behavioral Evaluation Strategy and Taxonomy(BEST)software which allows data collection in realtimeusing acomputerkeyboard.38Mutually exclusivebuttons were used for different levels of the same behavior.The researchers recorded classroom behavior by switching their focus from child to child in a speci fic predetermined sequence at 30 s intervals,without breaks between observations(i.e.,simultaneously recording while observing using the computer keyboard).All participating children wereobserved atleasttwiceduring a20 min period.Thepercentageoftimeabehaviorwasobserved during the observation period was estimated for the entire class,as is a common practice in observational research.39

Table 1 Examples of structured physical activity program and the focus in the psychomotor,cognitive,and social–emotional domain.

Table 2 Fidelity checklist for structured PA program.

2.3.3.Perceived competence and peer acceptance

The Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children(PSPCSAYC),40which yields scores for perceived physical competence,perceived cognitive competence,and perceived social(peer)acceptance,was used. Generalcompetence,operationalized by themean ofthecognitive and physical competence subscales,was also considered.Each subscale consists of 6 items that are presented in pictorial plates, separately for boys and girls.Two of the questions on peer acceptance were not asked(“this person doesn’t get to eat dinner at friends’houses”and“doesn’tstay overnightatherfriends’houses very often”)because these behaviors are rare atthe preschoolage. Students were asked to select the picture that is most like them (e.g.,“This girl is pretty good at puzzles and this girl isn’t pretty good at puzzles.Which of these girls is most like you?”).Next, they indicated the level of their perceived competence for each item.The response scale ranged from 1(not very good at...)to 4 (really good at...).The perceived maternal acceptance subscale was not included as it was unrelated to the purposes of this study. Cronbach’sαcoef ficients of internal consistency were modest (Table 3),consistent with the original findings of Harter and Pike,40who reported a range from 0.50 to 0.85.

2.4.Data analysis

Asnoted,dataderived fromobservationsofclassroom engagement(i.e.,verbal,social,affective)were at the level of the entire class,not at the level of individual children.Since these data preclude the use ofhypothesistesting(due to absence ofan indexof inter-individual variability),the data are presented descriptively.In the case of verbal engagement,the data are expressed as time(in second),whereasforsocialand affectiveengagement,the data are expressed as the percentage of observation time during which the children exhibited overt signs of the respective construct.

Table 3 Descriptive statistics of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children(n=24).

The data on perceived cognitive competence,perceived physical competence,perceived general competence(derived as the average of cognitive and physical),and perceived peer acceptance were collected via self-reports at the level of individual children.They were analyzed with a repeated-measures analysis of variance(ANOVA),with time(pre,post)as the within-subject independent variable.

3.Results

3.1.Fidelity of the PA intervention

Inter-rater agreement for the total number of qualities of the PA sessions was 88%,which is considered acceptable.As shown in Table 2,each of the observed PA sessions focused on 2 fundamental motor skills and provided multiple opportunities for cognitive engagement,self-control,and social–emotional engagement.

3.2.Classroom engagement

The levelofverbalengagementimmediately aftera PAsession differed relatively littlefrom anon-PAday during the firstweek of implementation(difference of 32.64%,in favor of the non-PA day).In thelastweek,verbalengagementwasconsiderably higher during the classroom period following the PAsession compared to the non-PA day(difference of 65.68%,in favor of the PA day). From the first to the last week of the intervention,verbal engagement was higher on both the PA and non-PA days.However,the increase was larger after the PA sessions than on the non-PA days (5.3 timesvs.1.6 times)(Table 4).

The percentage of time children were socially engaged was higher after the PA session than after typical classroom activities, during both the first(25.19%)and last week(14.93%)of the intervention.Socialengagementremained stable in PAdays from the first to the last week of the program(66.06%vs.66.77%). Although there was an increase on non-PA days from the first to thelastweek oftheintervention(40.87%vs.51.84%),thelevelon the last week was still lower compared to the PA day(51.84%vs.66.77%)(Table 4).

During the first week of the intervention,children expressed lower levels of positive affect during the classroom period thatfollowed the PAsession compared to the non-PAday(-15.91%). In contrast,during the last week,positive affect was higher after the PA session than the non-PA day(20.65%).On the non-PA days,the percentage oftime during which the children expressed positive affectdecreased from the first(30.57%)to the lastweek (11.29%)of program implementation.In contrast,on PA days, the percentage of time increased from 14.66%during the first week to 31.94%during the lastweek(Table 4).Although expressions of negative affect were also observed,the data are omitted because expressions of negative affect were virtually absent.

Table 4 Acute and longitudinal effects of structured physical activity(PA)program on social–emotional classroom engagement.

3.3.Perceived competence and peer acceptance

The ANOVAforperceived generalcompetence wasmarginally signi ficant(F(1,23)=4.01,p=0.05,η2=0.15).The effect size (partialη2)indicatesthat15%ofthe variance in perceived general competence is accounted for by the independent variable,time. This level ofη2is equivalent to Cohen’s effect sizef=0.42 (f=√(η2/(1-η2))),which ischaracterized as“l(fā)arge”.41Theeffect was driven mainly by an equally meaningful effect for perceived cognitive competence,which narrowly approached statisticalsigni ficance(F(1,23)=3.89,p=0.06,η2=0.15).As shown in Table 3,students reported higher perceived general and cognitive competence at the end of the intervention(p=0.05 andp=0.06, respectively).In contrast,the Time effects for perceived physical competence(F(1,23)=2.01,p=0.17,η2=0.08)and peeracceptance(F(1,23)=0.21,p=0.65,η2=0.01)did not approach statistical signi ficance.

4.Discussion

This investigation was predicated on the idea that providing physical games through PA to preschool children in a structured format is both appropriate and bene ficial for the healthy wholechild development of preschoolers.Thus,the objective of this feasibility study was to explore the idea that PA may promote the holistic development of preschool children,with bene fits extending beyond psychomotor development.Speci fically,the study addressed whether offering structured PA to preschoolers can promote cognitive and social–emotional classroom engagement,as well as cognitive self-perceptions,which are presumed to be crucial to academic success.

In evaluating the preliminary results reported here,itis important to take account of the fact that this innovative line of inquiry isstillin theprocessofdeveloping and re fining ideasand methods. Studies with preschool children face well-documented methodologicalchallenges,asmostchildren cannotread study materials, cannot stay focused over extended testing sessions,and generally exhibitpoorcompliance with investigatorinstructions.The result ofthetotality ofthese challengesisless-than-perfectadherence to experimentalprotocolsand ahigh degreeofrandommeasurement error,resulting in reduced reliability and,thus,loss of statistical power.Therefore,an important function of this paper is reporting the experiences derived from testing a speci fic PA intervention focusing on developmentally appropriate physical games and assessing a speci fic range of outcomes(classroom engagement, perceived competence,peer acceptance)with speci fic measures. The reliability estimates and effect sizes presented in Table 3 should be ofvalue to future investigations,asthey willprovide an initial empirical basis for power calculations.

Experience gained from the present study demonstrates that providing opportunities for physical games to preschool children in a structured and objective-oriented format,with speci fic opportunities for the development of fundamental motor, social,and emotional skills,is feasible.The fidelity assessments showed that the teacher-trainees were able to deliver the content as intended.By necessity,evaluation of the results relies on the examination of the direction of mean changes and effect sizes. The results,while clearly in need of replication,suggest that physical games implemented within a structured PA program have the potential to help preschool children improve their social–emotional engagement and perceptions of competence.

The level of verbal engagement generally increased from the beginning to the end of the intervention period,likely re flecting a“maturation”effect(e.g.,developing group cohesion,overall engagement with the class,tighter integration with peer network,evolving bond with teachers).More importantly for this study,the children demonstrated longer periods of verbal engagement during a classroom period that followed PA than during a classroom period that had not followed PA.It is possible that the PA sessions promoted verbal communication among children because the speci fic physical games that were selected required continuous interaction and collaboration with peers and the teacher,as well as constant cognitive engagement. Verbal communication is one component of engagement that may lead to better academic performance and school success.30

Furthermore,while the levels of social engagement showed little change from the beginning to the end of the intervention, theobservationsshowed thatthechildren wereconsistently more socially engaged during classroom periods that followed sessions of PA.This finding is consistent with cross-sectional studies showing that sport participation is associated with fewer peer-relationship problems.18Experiencing positive socialinteractionsand developing a sense ofrelatednessare associated with higher academic engagement and better performance.42,43

The results pertaining to positive affect showed an interesting reversal.While preschoolers initially expressed somewhatlower levels of positive affect(e.g.,smiles,laughs,signs of having fun)in class after PA,compared to a class period that had not followed PA,they expressed more positive affect after PA in the last week of the intervention.This observation may be attributed to the initial lack of familiarity and connectedness the children may have felt with the new teachers and the format of the PA sessions.However,after several weeks of exposure to the instructors and the PA content,the children expressed more positive affect during the classroom period that followed PA. This interpretation is consistent with cross-sectional results showing that physical play and sport participation are positively associated with emotional competence among preschool and kindergarten children.18,19

The interpretation ofself-reported outcomes,such as the components of perceived competence,requires a different framework compared to the interpretation of results from unobtrusive observations.While positive self-perceptionsare universally presumed to be important prerequisites for academic success(aiding children in setting higher goals and persisting in the face of adversity),typically developing preschool children tend to have relatively undifferentiated(i.e.,global)and exaggerated perceptions of competence.Thus,besides the aforementioned contributors to measurement error(e.g.,carelessness,misunderstanding), exaggerated perceptions of competence lead to the added psychometric challenge of reduced variance(e.g.,ceiling effects,as evidenced by the very high PSPCSAYC scores of 3.38–3.59 on a 4-point scale at baseline).In the present study,a borderline signi ficant pre-to-post change in general perceived competence was evidently driven by an increase in perceived cognitive competence(assessed with such items as good at puzzles,gets stars on paper,knows names of colors,good at counting,knows alphabet, knows first letter of name).Given that preschool children typically receive uniformly positive performance feedback on cognitive tasks,44it is noteworthy that a meaningful(η2=0.15,p=0.06)increase in perceived cognitive competence was found despite the limited reliable variation(29%–35%)afforded by the self-report measure of competence.While it does not appear that the implementation of the PA program impeded changes in perceived cognitive competence,whether the intervention contributed to the positive 12-week change should be examined in a follow-up controlled investigation.The absence of a signi ficant change in perceived physicalcompetence is perhaps unsurprising given that several of the physical skills identi fied in the PSPCSAYC were not speci fically targeted in this PA intervention (e.g.,swinging,climbing,tying shoes).Overall,it is noteworthy that all PSPCSAYC scale scores showed increases and it is,thus, possible that an intervention with higher frequency of PA sessions or longer duration may produce more robust effects.

This was a feasibility study;therefore,several limitations should be taken into consideration both in planning future projects and in interpreting the present results.In this study,emphasis was placed on the role that a preceding PA session may play in subsequent classroom engagement.Thus,the observations were limited to classroom activities while the behavior of children during the PA sessions themselves was not recorded. This was outside the scope of the present investigation because, anecdotally,children showed nearly maximal levels of engagement and positive affect during physical games.Nevertheless,it would be useful for future studies to track the full trajectory of these variables from the PA session and into the subsequent classroom periods,to investigate whether there is,in fact,continuity indicative of a carry-over effect.

This study used a within-subject design,examining the acute effect of structured PA on subsequent classroom engagement, compared to a typical classroom lesson(non-PA day),both at the beginning and attheend oftheintervention period.Future studies should account for geographic,socioeconomic,curricular,and resource-related differences and class/teacher effects(i.e.,the hierarchical structure of the data).It is also important to note that the smallsample size ofthisstudy limits statisticalpower,reduces the precision of estimates,and restricts generalizability to the broader population of preschoolers.In addition,as previously emphasized,the measurementofthe outcome variablesisa critical challenge in research involving preschool children.Our selection of measures for this study followed literature standards(i.e., observations for classroom behavior and PSPCSAYC for perceived competence and peer acceptance).However,due to logistical constraints,we were unable to have 2 independent observers for 100%of the observation periods,as originally intended (although this limitation is balanced somewhat by the 99%interrater agreement during those periods for which both observers were present).Furthermore,itisclearthatallself-reportmeasures used with the preschool population present psychometric challenges and should be interpreted with these challenges in mind. We,therefore,encouragethecontinued comparativeevaluation of measures,guided by theoretical considerations.27A new scale based on the PSPCSAYC focuses speci fically on perceived fundamental motor skill competence for young children and should be given consideration in future studies.45

In closing,this area of research may have several important implications that should be explored.From an educational perspective,it is worth considering whether including more structured physical games in the preschool curriculum could help preschoolers develop skills and acquire early positive experiences that could facilitate their transition to the school environment,thus preparing them for future academic success.From a health perspective,it is becoming increasingly clear that proactive steps must be taken to reengineer structured PA and the development of physical competencies and motor skills into the lives of young children.The potential value of PA as a vehicle in helping children develop cognitively,emotionally,socially, and physically should not be overlooked.15,46

Acknowledgment

The study was supported by a Team Science Seed grant from the College of Human Sciences,Iowa State University.

Authors’contributions

SV conceived of and designed the study,amended the measures,was in charge of the data acquisition and data analysis, and drafted the manuscript;CM coordinated data processing and contributed in data analysis;GL contributed in the design of the study and data interpretation;JSK contributed in thedesign of the intervention program.All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript,agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work,and agreed with the order of presentation of the authors.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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8 February 2015;revised 23 July 2015;accepted 27 September 2015

Available online 11 January 2016

Peer review under responsibility of Shanghai University of Sport.

*Corresponding author.

E-mail address:svazou@iastate.edu(S.Vazou)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2016.01.006

2095-2546/?2017 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.on behalf of Shanghai University of Sport.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).