Individual vs. Group Setting Play-Based Movement in Physical Education: Differential Effects on Social and Cognitive Development in Primary School Children

Abstract

One of the topics that has attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of motor development in recent years is the role of play and its types in the development of children’s social and cognitive skills. Therefore, the aim of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate the effects of individual- and group-based play movements on children’s social skills and cognitive performance. Participants included 42 male students aged 9 to 12 years who were randomly divided into three groups: individual, group, and control (14 children in each group). In the two groups, individual and group, children were involved in a play-based movement for 6 months (22 weekly sessions, each session lasting 60 minutes), while the control group followed only the school’s physical education curriculum during the same period. Data were collected using two scales: The Barclay Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale - Children and Adolescents (BDEFS-CA) and the Social Skills with Youth Scale -II (MESSY-II). The results showed that children in group play-based setting had a significant increase in adaptive social skills, while there was a significant decrease in hostile and inappropriate behaviors (social skills: p = .035). The results also showed that group play-based setting was able to improve the cognitive performance of these children (p = .003). Individual setting was associated with moderate gains in social skills and relatively smaller improvements in executive functions compared with group-based play. Within the constraints of the study design and sample, the findings suggest that group play-based movement may be associated with relatively greater improvements in social skills and executive functioning among elementary-aged boys in physical education settings.