ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1539278
This article is part of the Research TopicPsychological Factors in Physical Education and Sport - Volume VView all 27 articles
The Impact of Physical Exercise with Additional Visual Tasks on Self-Esteem in Children: The Mediating Role of Visual Acuity
Provisionally accepted
- 1Soochow University, Suzhou, China
- 2Nan Dong School, Shang Dang District, Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, China, Shanxi, China
- 3Suzhou City University, Suzhou, Liaoning Province, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of physical exercise incorporating additional visual tasks on self-esteem and visual acuity in children aged 11-12. Specifically, it explored the relationship between self-esteem and visual acuity and examines whether visual acuity mediates the impact of such exercise on self-esteem.Methods: The study randomly selected four sixth-grade classes from a primary school in Suzhou as participants. The children were divided into two groups: one group engaged in physical exercise with additional visual tasks (n=84), while the other group followed a regular physical exercise regimen (n=83). The experiment lasted 16 weeks, and self-esteem levels, uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), and kinetic visual acuity (KVA) were measured before and after the experiment.Results: Significant improvements in self-esteem were observed in both the experimental and control groups (p<0.01). In the experimental group, notable enhancements were recorded in both UDVA and KVA for both eyes(p<0.001). In contrast, the control group showed no significant change in left eye UDVA (p>0.05), while right eye UDVA and KVA declined. A low positive correlation was identified between self-esteem and UDVA in both eyes within the experimental group, although no correlation was found between self-esteem and KVA. Additionally, left eye UDVA was moderately positively correlated with right eye UDVA. KVA was positively correlated with UDVA in both the left and right eyes. Physical exercise incorporating visual tasks was a significant positive predictor of self-esteem in 11-12-year-olds (β=0.759, p<0.01). UDVA in both eyes partially mediated the relationship between exercise and self-esteem (left eye 95% CI: [0.079, 0.400]; right eye 95% CI: [0.216, 0.666]). Conclusion: Physical exercise incorporating additional visual tasks can enhance self-esteem and improve both UDVA and KVA in children aged 11-12. Furthermore, the level of self-esteem in children was related to the level of UDVA in the right and left eyes. The UDVA of both eyes partially mediated the impact of physical exercise with additional visual tasks on self-esteem.
Keywords: physical exercise, self-esteem, Visual tasks, Visual Acuity, Children aged 11-12
Received: 19 Feb 2025; Accepted: 15 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Wang, Li, Li, Shi, Jiang, Zhou and Yin. 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:
Sheng Zhou, Suzhou City University, Suzhou, Liaoning Province, China
Rongbin Yin, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.