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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Social Pediatrics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1552597
This article is part of the Research Topic Mental health and wellbeing of children View all articles
Effect of Team-Building Sports Games on the Resilience of Chinese Rural Children: Evidence from Nanxian County, Hunan Province
Provisionally accepted- 1 College of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 2 China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
- 3 School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 4 Independent researcher, Orlando, United States
Purpose: Participation in competitive sports has been shown to enhance children's mental health. However, evidence regarding the impact of group sports within traditional physical education on children's mental development is scarce. This study designed a team-building-focused physical education program and examined its effects on the resilience of rural students. Methods: A total of 86 rural elementary school students (mean age: 11 years) were cluster-randomized into the intervention and control groups. Both groups participated in regular physical education classes three times per week. In the intervention group, the first 15-minute warm-up period was replaced with sports games. From a social perspective, all games subtly encourage children to forge new social relationships by engaging in physical contact, interacting with new team members, and collaborating to achieve shared goals in a sportsmanlike manner. Resilience was assessed using the Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents before and after the 12-week intervention. Results: After 12 weeks, the intervention group showed significant improvements in affect control, positive thinking, and help-seeking compared to the control group. Overall, both the individual and supportive dimensions of resilience improved following participation in team-building sports games. Conclusions: Whether winning or losing as a team member, these experiences positively enhance children's emotional regulation, their understanding of their social roles within a team, and the development of help-seeking and concern for a distressed other. As a result, children may build new and broader social connections that extend beyond the physical education class, fostering a sportsmanlike civic virtue in their daily lives.
Keywords: Exercise, Mental Health, group sports, physical activity, Physical contact, Touch
Received: 28 Dec 2024; Accepted: 18 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, You, Fan, Xia, Wang, Zhang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jizhi You, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018, Zhejiang Province, China
Yunxiang Fan, College of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, Hunan Province, China
Xiang Zhang, College of Physical Education, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, Hunan Province, China
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