Learning to Swim: An Exploration of Negative Prior Aquatic Experiences Among Children (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Background: The purpose of the present study was to identify which, and to what extent, selected individual determinants of 10-year-old children may limit the final achievement in learning to swim. In view of the above, the research hypothesis was formulated that some children, despite regular attendance at swimming classes, do not achieve the learning outcomes set in the curriculum. The reason for this may be unfavorable (compared to their peers) morphological and functional characteristics, coordination motor abilities, and problems with fear of water. Methods: The study was conducted on a group of 271 students from the third grade of elementary schools who could not swim when they entered the physical education classes at the swimming pool and then participated in at least 25 swimming lessons during the school year. After these classes, the students performed swimming tests, and their somatic and functional characteristics and coordination motor abilities were measured. Results: ...
Swimming Without Fear: Equitable Instruction
International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 2022
A qualitative single-subject exploratory case study approach was used to examine the effectiveness of an intervention process to assist a 30-year-old female in reducing her fear of water. During the 18-week intervention, systematic desensitization was utilized in conjunction with multiple data sources to determine its success. Data sources included the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), semi-structured interviews, swimming skills tests, collages, and participant and researcher journals. Data analysis examined changes in scores for the STAI and swimming skills tests while an inductive data analytic strategy was applied to organize and make sense of the interviews, collages, and participant journal entries. A researcher’s journal was kept confirming major findings. Results showed a decrease in fear as documented by interviews, participant journal entries, and the post-collage. No differences in scores were noted for the STAI and swimming skills tests. These findings sug...
Differences between Young Children’s Actual, Self-perceived and Parent-perceived Aquatic Skills
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2021
As drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury/death in children worldwide, perceptions of their actual aquatic skills are of critical importance. Children’s self-perceptions may influence the risks they take, and parental perceptions may influence the degree of supervision deemed to be necessary for children in and around water. Accordingly, we examined the differences between young children’s actual, self-perceived and parent-perceived aquatic skills. Using a three-way repeated measures ANCOVA, we analyzed data from 134 child-parent dyads (56.0% boys; M age = 7.1, SD = 1.1 years; and 71.6% mothers). We measured self and parental perceptions of the child’s aquatic skills with the ‘Pictorial Scale of Perceived Water Competence’ (PSPWC), and we applied the exact same 17 test items of the PSPWC to assess the child’s actual aquatic skill level in the water. Controlling for years of swimming school experience, within-subject differences between the total scores on the ‘Actual Aq...
Perceived and Real Aquatic Competence in Children from 6 to 10 Years Old
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
This study aimed to analyze the relationship between perceived aquatic competence (PAC) and real aquatic competence (RAC) in 6 to 10 year old children in skills identified as relevant for surviving an aquatic accident. The study sample consisted of 105 children (8.2 + 1.3 years old). Two age groups were examined separately [G1, 6 to 7 years (n = 53); G2, 8 to 10 years (n = 52)]. Children’s aquatic competence was evaluated twice for skills linked to the risk of drowning: Firstly, using a common swimsuit (simple condition) and secondly wearing a t-shirt (complex condition). The PAC was assessed by questionnaire interview. Pearson correlation coefficients, pairwise, and independent t-test comparisons were performed with a significance level of 5%. Similar levels of PAC were found among both age groups for all measured skills, excepted for breath control during swimming (p < 0.05). However, PAC differs significantly (p < 0.001) from RAC (in simple and complex conditions) only in G...
Injury Epidemiology
Background Globally, drowning is a leading cause of unintentional injury and death among children. Teaching aquatic competencies (swimming skills and water safety knowledge) to children has been proposed as a prevention strategy. In Australia, however, many children are not meeting standard aquatic competency benchmarks. Exploration of the connection between demographic and background factors and aquatic competencies could provide insight into why differences in acquisition of aquatic knowledge and skills occur. Main body A systematic literature review guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses was performed to identify studies that reported on the association between demographic and background factors and aquatic competencies. Nine databases were searched for English language peer-reviewed studies published since 2000. Fourteen studies fulfilled all inclusion criteria. Studies were quasi-experimental or cross-sectional in design, which is consi...
Can you swim? Self-report and actual swimming competence among young adults in Ballarat, Australia
International Journal of …, 2012
This paper reports the Australian findings in an international study comparing self-reported and actual swimming and aquatic skills of young adults. Physical Education and Sports Sciences students (n = 263) completed the “Can You Swim?” self-report survey and practical skills assessment, unaware that the practical tests replicated survey items. Relationships for comparisons between practical tests and their matched survey item were weak, indicating participants had inaccurate perceptions of their own swimming skills. Typically, they underestimated their competence in terms of distance and fundamental aquatic skills. Understanding of what constitutes different levels of swimming ability was poor; for example, most participants identified as average or good to excellent swimmers, but more than half of self-identified average swimmers and 20% of good to excellent swimmers estimated they could complete < 100 m of continuous swimming. The implications of study findings for drowning prevention and the need for further research are discussed.