The results indicate that exercise has positive short-term effects on self-esteem in children and young people. Since there are no known negative effects of exercise and many positive effects on physical health, exercise may be an important measure in improving children's self-esteem. These conclusions are based on several small low-quality trials.
Effect of selected movement skills on positive self-concept.
36 boys and 36 girls in 4 fourth grades were exposed to basketball movement conditions which included the skills of dribble, chest pass, lay-up, pivot, guarding, and two-hand set shot. Eight 1/2-hr. treatment periods were spread evenly over 4 wk. and took place within the regularly assigned school physical education period. Two class groups, which included 9 boys and 9 girls each, were randomly assigned by class to an experimental group which received treatment while two class groups were assigned by class to the control group. No differences between changes in self-concept as estimated by the Piers-Harris scale for treatment and control conditions were significant.