Globally, more than half of school-aged children do not engage in the recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Given that developing sufficient fundamental motor skills (FMS) competence during early elementary school years is important for a child’s physical and cognitive development, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an 8-week FMS-based afterschool program on physical and cognitive health outcomes among elementary children. Participants were 31 K–2 students (19 girls, 12 boys; Mage = 6.65 ± 0.98) from three public elementary schools in the southwestern United States who were assigned to the intervention group (FMS-based afterschool program; n = 20) or the control group (traditional afterschool program; n = 11). A 2 × 2 repeated measures MANOVA showed significant changes in FMS competence and MVPA between the intervention and the control group over time. However, no significant changes were found in cognitive functioning. The 8-week FMS-based afterschool program showed significant improvements in FMS competence and MVPA, compared to a traditional afterschool program. This finding suggests that structured FMS-focused strategies (e.g., fun games and goal setting) can be a critical component when implementing a physical activity program to enhance children’s motor skills and physical activity behavior.

In light of the well-documented health benefits of engaging in regular physical activity, much concern has been voiced about inadequate participation in physical activity among school-aged students in recent years. To promote school-aged students' physical activity participation and to achieve public health goals, there is an emerging trend to investigate multilevel theory-based correlates of physical activity to complement the conventional research paradigm of individual-centered influences on physical activity. The primary purpose of this article is to review the self-determination theory and social ecological model, and to provide a rationale for integrating these two frameworks. This approach has the potential to provide a clearer understanding of the decisions school-aged students make regarding being physically active. It can ultimately offer significant and promising insights regarding physical activity intervention strategies for promoting school-aged students' physical activity participation when their lifelong physical activity habits are being developed.

A need-supportive environment can provide various motivational benefits to impact children’s psychomotor developmental levels. However, very little is known about the effects of need-supportive motor skill intervention on children’s motor skill competence and physical activity by gender. Guided by self-determination theory (SDT), this study aimed to (a) investigate the effect of a need-supportive fundamental movement skill (FMS) program on children’s FMS competence and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and (b) explore potential gender differences in these effects. Thirty-six children (63.8% girls; M_age = 6.52 ± 0.97) participated and were divided into two groups: an intervention group (24 need-supportive FMS sessions over eight weeks) and a control group. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to examine the influence of the motor skill intervention on FMS competence and MVPA over time by group (intervention, control) and gender (boys, girls). The results showed (a) significant group differences between the intervention and control group in FMS competence and MVPA (p < 0.001), (b) non-significant gender differences between boys and girls in FMS competence and MVPA (p = 0.85), and (c) non-significant interaction effects over time (p = 0.52). The findings highlight that a need-supportive FMS program may enhance FMS development and daily physical activity for both genders during the early school years.

With the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the working environment, employees’ AI awareness, defined as the extent to which they perceive their job could be replaced by AI, may correlate with their feelings, work–family balance, and emotional status. This study explores the mediation mechanism underlying the association between AI awareness and emotional exhaustion, mediated by job insecurity and work interference with family. Using a sample of a total 303 employees (male = 49.8%), this study conducts regressions with the Bootstrap method for mediation mechanism exploration. AI awareness positively predicts emotional exhaustion. AI awareness positively predicts job insecurity, which in turn positively predicts emotional exhaustion. AI awareness positively predicts work interference with family, which in turn positively predicts emotional exhaustion. Job insecurity and work interference with family serially mediate the association between AI awareness and emotional exhaustion. The findings emphasize the importance for company managers to address job security concerns and support work–life balance by positioning AI as a significant workplace stressor that leads to emotional exhaustion. Practical implications include the need for transparent communication, retraining programs, and flexible work policies to mitigate AI-related stress and promote employee well-being.

Background: School physical education (PE) programs provide a prime environment for interventions that attempt to develop school-aged children’s motor competence and overall physical fitness, while also stimulating competence motivation to engage in physical activity during childhood. It is generally recognized that a pedometer-based intervention strategy combined with a goal-setting strategy may be effective in increasing physical activity participation among school-aged children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an 8-week pedometer-based goal-setting intervention on children’s motivation in PE, motor competence, and physical activity. Methods: A pretest–posttest comparison group design was used with the 8-week intervention (3 days/week for 24 sessions). Participants were 273 (boys = 136, girls = 137) students recruited from 3 elementary schools in the US. Classes in each school were randomly allocated to three experimental conditions: (1) an intervention group with a personalized pedometer weekly target to reach in their PE class (N = 110), (2) an intervention group with the fixed pedometer target range to reach in each PE class based on the recommended criteria (N = 90), or (3) a control group without intervention (N = 73). Analysis/results: The factorial repeated measures MANOVA indicated significant multivariate effects for the group [F(6, 528) = 12.954, p < .001]. Post hoc analyzes showed that both experimental groups had significantly higher expectancy-value beliefs, motor competence, and physical activity compared to the control group (p < .001). Conclusions: Health practitioners should be aware that goal-directed action can contribute to school students’ PE-related achievement motivation, motor competence, and achieving the recommended 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.