Psychosocial Aspects of Physical Activity and Fitness In Special-Population, Minority Middle School Children

(2011). Psychosocial aspects of physical and fitness in special-population minority middle school children. Special-population research predicting physical activity (PA) and fitness with minority middle school children from at-risk environments is rare. Hence, the purpose of our investigation was to evaluate the ability of important social cognitive and environment-based measures to predict PA and fitness with children with developmental delay, cognitive, and emotional impairments. Children (N = 89, ages 11-15) completed questionnaires assessing social cognitive and environment-based constructs, self report PA, and completed fitness testing. Correlational results supported some hypotheses. The descriptive and correlational results also indicated commonalities with similar research on non special-population minority middle school children from at-risk environments. INTRODUCTION The beneficial outcomes of adequate physical activity (PA) are well documented and include cognitive (e.g., enhanced neurocognitive function), emotional (e.g., reduced stress), and physiological For instance, it is thought that decrements in neuroplasticity, attention, and cognitive processing are associated with decreases in PA in people without disabilities Such cognitive difficulties are then thought to be exacerbated for individuals with pre-existing cognitive difficulties as a result of learning, attention and sensory impairments (Anderson & Heyne, 2010). As a result, the beneficial cognitive outcomes of PA for children with disabilities are particularly important relative to children without disabilities (Anderson & Heyne, 2010). Unfortunately, research focused on the PA and fitness of individuals considered under the umbrella term special populations¹ is rare. More specifically, research on both adults and children with cognitive