Impact of Physical Activity on Autonomy and Quality of Life in Individuals with Down Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic alteration in humans, resulting from the trisomy of chromosome 21. Individuals with DS are characterized by physical traits and limitations related to intellectual functioning and the development of motor skills. People with DS tend to have lower levels of physical activity (PA) than the general population, despite its benefits for health and quality of life, which could be caused by barriers such as the lack of adapted programs or knowledge on how to adapt them. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to examine the impact of physical activity or sports programs on autonomy and quality of life in individuals with DS. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines were followed to search four databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and SportDiscus), adhering to the population, intervention, comparison, and outcome strategy. A total of 13 studies were selected that followed different training programs (combined training, adapted football, technology-based, pulmonary training, gymnastics and dance, water-based, and whole body vibration). Most of the interventions provided benefits for autonomy or quality of life (physical, psychological, cognitive, emotional, and social) in people with DS. In conclusion, the benefits of physical activity and sports programs adapted to people with DS are positive.

"I Learned More Because I Became More Involved": Teacher's and Students' Voice on Gamification in Physical Education Teacher Education.

Higher education plays a critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals established in the 2030 Agenda, especially the fourth goal (quality and equality in higher education). Therefore, teacher education must play a central role in providing transformative learning experiences for future teachers that can lead the change to create high quality programs in every school. The purpose of this study was to conduct a gamified experience in Physical Education Teacher Education with two goals: assess the students' views on the framework and evaluate the teachers' feelings and thoughts. One teacher-researcher (36 years) and 74 students (19-27 years) enrolled in a Spanish university agreed to participate. A qualitative descriptive method and an action-research design were used. The teacher-researcher completed a personal diary, while the students answered two open-ended questions. From the students' responses emerged three positive themes (framework, motivation, and transference) and two negatives (boredom and group work); from the teacher-researcher, we received three positive responses (mixed emotions, expectations, and students' motivation) and one negative (workload). As a conclusion, gamification could be considered a framework that promotes transformative learning.

Fostering Youth Female Athletes' Decision-Making Skills through Competitive Volleyball: A Mixed Methods Design.

Decision-making is one of the most important life skills for young athletes to succeed in their daily lives and can be improved through Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs. Although the application of this type of programs has increased within educational and recreational sports, there is a lack of research relating PYD through competitive sports. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine whether an intervention with competitive female youth players improves their decision-making. A hybrid PYD program was applied (37 trainings and 14 games) using convergent mixed methods. 15 girls (8-10 years) and a male coach participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews and field notes were used to collect qualitative data and the Decision-Making Style in Sport questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. The results showed a positive perception of the improvement in decision-making in both the players and the coach; however, there was no statistical significance between the pretest and the posttest, and the integration between qualitative and quantitative data was mostly discrepant. Despite the lack of significance in the statistical analysis, the findings suggest that the intervention program appears to have beneficial effects on the development of decision-making skills in the players.

A Study on the Injury Rate of Spanish Competitive Athletes as a Consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.

The COVID-19 lockdown may have had collateral effects on the conditions of athletes, with possible increases in injury risks upon the return to sports. Due to the existence of multiple factors of injury risks based on the lockdown and the return to sports, the aim of this study was to analyze the injury rates after the lockdown in competitive athletes. A non-experimental quantitative design based on a survey was carried out, and 94 athletes (42 males and 52 females; 23.57 ± 6.20 years) participated. Statistical analyses were carried out using non-parametric tests. Injury rates did not increase significantly after the lockdown, and there were no statistical differences between performance levels, types of sports, the design of a specific training program by sports professionals during the lockdown, the moment of injury, and the mechanism of injury. It is important to develop injury prevention protocols to prepare athletes after such a long period of detraining.

Personal and Social Responsibility Development in a Volleyball Hybrid Positive Youth Development Program: A Mixed Methods Approach.

Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs are being used to foster holistic growth in children and adolescents. The hybridized application of two or more programs of this type has acquired special relevance in recent years. Although their application is common in the school context, there are few research studies that attempt their implementation in an extracurricular context. This study analyzed the effects of an intervention based on a hybrid PYD program on personal responsibility (PR) and social responsibility (SR) in youth volleyball players in an extracurricular context. A hybrid program was applied during the competitive season, with a total of 37 sessions with 30 girl students (15 experimental and 15 control) aged between 8 and 10 years (M = 8.87, SD = 0.82). A convergent mixed methods design was applied to integrate the following: (a) semi-structured interviews and field notes and (b) personal and social responsibility questionnaires. The results indicated that the implementation of the hybrid program appeared to yield a positive perception of learning in both the participants and the coach. Although there were no statistically significant intergroup or intragroup differences, the findings suggest that the hybrid program seems to be effective in fostering PR and SR in youth girl volleyball players.

Influence of Physical Activity and Sport on the Inclusion of People with Visual Impairment: A Systematic Review.

People with visual impairment have greater difficulty in accessing physical activity and sport, and a lack of social interaction is also associated with a risk of exclusion. Work is currently being done to include people with visual impairment through physical activity and sport. However, there is a lack of studies examining the status and overall effectiveness of interventions in the pre- and post-COVID stage. This study aimed to provide solid evidence on the characteristics and effectiveness of interventions for the inclusion of people with visual impairment through physical activity and sport in order to address the need for dissemination on this topic. The bibliographic search was carried out with the words "Physical activity", "Physical exercise", "Sport", "Physical training", "visual disability", "visual impairment" and "inclusion" in the databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar from 2018 to 2021.The article selection process was according to the PRISMA protocol with a final selection of nine articles. The main results highlighted that the programmes improve the perception of people with disabilities, increase social skills and health and increase the social importance of people with disabilities in the social environment. Among the most generalised conclusions were the need for specialised training, the need for social inclusion and participation of people with visual impairment in their environments and increased physical activity.