Young boys who participate in sports before they even start school are less likely to experience mental health issues such as symptoms of depression and anxiety, or ’emotional distress’, as they grow up, and specifically between the ages of five and 12.
Research also suggest that boys who experience less distress as they grow up are also likely to be more active in early adolescence. The downside is that there is no similar correlation in girls between participation in sport and mental health.
The study involved 690 boys and 748 born in the Canadian province of Quebec in 1997 and 1998 and was carried out by the University of Montreal, Canada, and the researchers claim there is widespread evidence of a crisis caused by childhood physical inactivity which may ultimately have implications for later mental and physical health.
The findings were published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrics.
The researchers examined the sporting and physical activity habits reported by youngsters aged five and 12, as well as by their parents. They also looked at any symptoms of emotional distress from age six to 10 that were reported by their teachers. They discovered that five year-old boys who never participated in sports were more likely to look unhappy and tired, had difficulty having fun, cried a lot, and appeared fearful or worried between the ages of six and 10.
They also discovered that boys who exhibited higher levels of depressive and anxious symptoms during middle childhood were subsequently less physically active at 12 years old. For girls, on the other hand, no significant changes were found.’
The children’s teachers assessed emotional-distress symptoms observed in school from ages six to 10.
Dr Harbec and Professor Pagani practices at Saint-Justine children’s hospital in Montreal and their goal was to eliminate any pre-existing conditions, such as child temperament, parental education or family income, that could throw a different light on the results. Boys who engage in sport pre school might benefit from physical activities that help them develop life skills — such as taking the initiative, engaging in teamwork and practicing selfcontrol, as well as building supportive relationships with their peers and adult coaches and instructors.
Conversely, boys who experienced symptoms of depression and anxiety might be more socially isolated and have decreased energy levels and lower feelings of competence, which in turn could negatively influence engagement in physical activity.’
For girls on the other hand, depression and anxiety risks and protective factors work differently — girls are more likely than boys to seek help from and talk about emotional distress to their family, friends or health providers. Psychological support from those social ties protects them better. Because more girls experience emotional distress than boys, this risk may result in early identification and intervention for girls.
In the classroom…
Class clowns have traditionally been thought of as stupid. But new research suggests they may actually be one of the smartest children in the room.
Scientists tested the creative humour of children with different IQs by asking them to generate jokes for 10 comics. Each of their contributions was then scored by a panel made up of psychologists and cartoonists. Once the final scores were in, experts found the more intelligent children outperformed their peers in creative comedy in every way.
It is believed that intelligent people have a better grasp of humour because they understand how to subvert people’s expectations. So parents and teachers should recognise having a jokester child is a sign of their intellectual ability.
The study was conducted by researchers who tested the comedic abilities of 112 boys and 105 girls between the ages of 10 and 12. Prior to the test, the children took a test designed to measure their overall intelligence. Of the 217 children, 8% were below average IQ, 59% were of average IQ, 15% were above average IQ and 17% were classed as highly intelligent.
Each of the children were then given 10 caroons to add speech-bubbles to characters thoughts and voices to test their sense of humour. Some of the bubbles were already partly filled to set the scene, with others left blank.
The children were then given a ‘humour score’ by seven judges — two academics specialising in the science of humour, and five cartoonists. Each of the children’s 10 cartoon bubbles were scored for funniness — and relevance — on a scale of one to five for each category. With each child producing 10 ‘funnies’ this meant they each had a potential final score of 100 points.
The children classed as highly intelligent achieved an average score of 92, compared to the average score of 78 for the entire study. Children classified as having a below average IQ scored an average of only 54 in the humour test.
The final results demonstrated that the smarter the child, the better their jokes. The highly intelligent group outperformed all the other groups.
Parents and teachers should be aware that if their children or students frequently make good quality humour, it is very likely that they have extraordinary intelligence. However, the study did have several limitations, the first being that creating cartoons is only one form of humour and not one conducted in a social setting. Secondly, with the comics, there was no way of ensuring the children had not seen them prior to the study.
Since the number of children in each intelligence group were not equal, comparisons between them should be treated cautiously.
The findings were published in the journal HUMOR (funnily enough.)
Parents and Smartphones
Mothers who spend a lot of time on their smartphones while looking after their toddlers could be posing a ‘significant threat’ to their child’s development because they devote only 25% of their attention to their children when using their mobile. The consequences of these inadequate interactions between mothers and children could be far-reaching. Since men and women use their phones in a similar way, it is likely the findings apply to fathers too.
The research, carried out by Israeli scientists, involved 33 mothers and their two-year-old children.
The mums were asked to perform three tasks while they were looking after their toddlers – browse a Facebook page, read printed magazines or play with the child while phones and magazines were outside the room. The mothers were unaware of the purpose of the experiment, so they behaved naturally by splitting their interest between their children, their smartphone and their magazines.
All the interactions were videotaped and the recordings were later scanned frame by frame in an attempt to quantify the mother-child interaction. The researchers, from Tel Aviv University, analysed three components of interactions between the mothers and their toddlers. They looked at what the mother said to the child – which is an important predictor of how a child develops language – whether the toddler responded, and how quickly the mother replied.
The mothers talked with their children up to four times less while they were using their smartphones. Even when they were able to respond while browsing Facebook, the quality of the response was reduced because the mothers kept their responses to a minimum. The research also revealed there was no difference between browsing a phone and reading a magazine. It is clear however, that we use smartphones much more than any
other media, so they pose a significant developmental threat.
The findings were published in the journal Child Development
Violent TV programmes at a young age mean trouble!
The more children are exposed to aggressive interactions on TV, the more likely they will be to think violence is normal Conversely, exposure to more appropriate social situations can help them develop the essential social skills that will be useful in their personal and economic success later in life.
Research carried out by the University of Montreal on 2,000 children aged between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 has uncovered long-term effects of exposure to violent content on development.
Both male and female children exposed to violent content in early childhood were more likely to experience more emotional distress in their teenage years and also less classroom engagement, academic achievement and academic motivation.
Healthy development and academic motivation are essential elements in the successful transition to adolescence. Feelings of anxiety and poor academic performance will inevitably harm this crucial stage in a child’s development.
The parents of the boys and girls participating in the study reported what kind of TV programmes their children watched. When the children turned 12, both the children and their teachers rated their psychological and academic achievement, as well as their motivation and participation in classroom activities. The researchers then analysed the data to identify any significant links to exposure to violent content when they were very young, taking care to eliminate any pre-existing influences and biases that may also have affected aspects of the children’s lives.
There is no doubt that watching violent TV during a child’s early years is associated with psychosocial risks and the academic impairment which becomes apparent in early adolescence.
In boys, by the age of 12, violent screen content was associated with increased emotional distress, inattentiveness, poor classroom engagement, academic achievement and motivation, and unruly and socially withdrawn behaviour.
For girls, links were found to emotional distress and poor classroom engagement and academic motivation.
Preschool children tend to identify with characters on TV and treat everything they see as real. They are especially vulnerable to humorous depictions of glorified heroes and villains who use violence as a justified means to solve problems. Repeated exposure to rapid paced adrenaline-inducing action sequences, as well as captivating special effects, may well reinforce beliefs, attitudes and impressions that habitual violence in social interactions is normal. Misunderstanding and mis-learning essential social skills can make it difficult to fit in at school.
As with witnessing violence in real life, being repeatedly exposed to hostile and violent behaviour by sometimes grotesque-looking creatures could trigger fear and stress and lead these children to perceive society as dangerous and frightening. All this can lead to reacting badly in ambiguous social situations.
The study was published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Journal Paediatrics.
