The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of an interdisciplinary program of Greek folk dance, with topics from history and geography on Middle School students’ goal orientation and anxiety level. The sample consisted of 260 students (134 boys & 126 girls). The experimental group (n=144) followed the interdisciplinary four-week program (two lessons per week) while the control group (n=126) followed the corresponding typical physical education program. For the data collection, the questionnaire used was the “Goal orientation” by Papaioannou, Milosis, Kosmidou, and Tsiggilis (2002) and the Greek version (Kakkos & Zervas, 1996) of “Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2” (Martens et al., 1990). The students filled in the questionnaires before and after their participating in each program. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and Repeated Measures ANOVA were used. Results showed that a. Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory. b. Τhe experimental group decreased significantly the levels of “ego-strengthening” and “ego-protection”, and on the contrary significantly increase the “personal development”, and “social acceptance”. c. Experimental group’s boys and girls decreased their “ego-strengthening” and “ego-protection”, and enhanced their “personal development” and “social acceptance” more than their control group peers. d. The experimental group decreased the levels of somatic and cognitive anxieties and increased significantly their self-confidence. e. male students increased their self-confidence more than female students. These findings support the view that an interdisciplinary program of traditional Greek dance with issues from history and geography enable us to reduce the rates of ego-strengthening, ego-protection, somatic and cognitive anxiety while simultaneously increases students’ personal development, social acceptance, and self-confidence

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relevance of the “Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men” (ATLG) Scale developed by G. M. Herek to the Greek society. The study consists of two stages or sub-studies. At the first stage, the sample consisted of 186 undergraduate university students and at the second, 254 undergraduate university students, who studied at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Democritus University of Thrace in Komotini, Greece. Methodologically speaking, our research relied on the methods of descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis (Cronbach’s α, composite reliability and average variance extracted) and t-test for independent sample. The results of the first stage showed that the two factors, men’s homophobia and women’s homophobia, accounted for 58% of the total variance. At the second stage, three confirmatory factor analyses were performed: men’s homophobia, women’s homophobia and total homophobia. We also found gender-related differences in students’ attitudes to homosexuality, but only as far as male homosexuality is concerned.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of literature program on development emotional and motor skills of students aged 10-12 in the sport of volleyball. Students from 5th and 6th grade (Ν=257, 123 boys and 134 girls), participated in the research. The students were randomly divided into two groups. The first group (n=173) followed a 4 months literature program using the literary book "The Knight in Rusty Armor" and the second group (n=84) followed the typical Physical Education program. The teaching of emotional skills was combined with a program of learning the Volleyball cognitive backhand skill. Social-emotional intelligence was assessed with the questionnaire "Emotional Quotient-Inventory: Youth Version (EQ-I:YV)" by Bar-On and Parker, while the cognitive assessment of backhand service was carried out with criteria sheet 4 (p. 65) of the Physical Education book of the 5th-6th grade teacher. The non-parametric Friedman test – K related samples and the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to evaluate the effect of the literature intervention. The results showed that the intervention program was effective with the students of the experimental group showing a significant improvement in terms of emotional skills: intrapersonal (P=0.290, Df(1), χ2: 1.119), empathy (P=0.128, Df(1), χ2: 2.312), social responsibility (P=0.610, Df(1), χ2: 0.261), adaptability (P=0.006, Df(1), χ2: 7.615), stress control (P=0.000, Df(1), χ2: 53.161) and general mood (P=0.790, Df(1), χ2:0.071). There was also an improvement in the cognitive of the back-hand service technique skill, (P=0.000, Df(2), χ2: 61.843). In contrast, students in the control group did not show any improvement in emotional skills and performance of cognitive backhand service skill. Therefore, the findings support the positive contribution of literature to the improvement of emotional and motor skills through the practice of the intervention program.

La satisfacción es un factor que contribuye a aumentar la participación en las actividades deportivas, principalmente porque está vinculada a procedimientos conductuales responsables de generar sentimientos positivos en las personas involucradas. El objetivo de este estudio fue confirmar el "Cuestionario de Satisfacción de La Clase de Educación Física" en un contexto educativo de danza griega. También se examinó la coherencia interna del cuestionario. La muestra del estudio consistió en 482 participantes, 184 de los cuales eran hombres y 298 eran mujeres. Todos los participantes asistieron a cursos de danza tradicional griega en diferentes asociaciones de danza en Grecia. La escala consta de 45 preguntas que constituyen nueve factores. Se realizaron los siguientes análisis estadísticos: La validez y fiabilidad del cuestionario se examinaron mediante un análisis de factores exploratorios y un análisis de factores confirmatorios. Se llevó a cabo un análisis de fiabilidad para examinar la cohesión interna de los factores. Se calcularon estadísticas descriptivas para examinar ampliamente el grado de satisfacción. El análisis de los resultados llegó a la siguiente conclusión: a) La versión griega del cuestionario mostró propiedades psicométricas estacionarias estables, que apoyan parcialmente su uso en el contexto de la danza griega. b) Las correlaciones entre las subescalas indicaban un modelo de factor relacionado que soporta la validez de la construcción de escalas. Satisfaction is a contributing factor to increasing participation in sports activities, especially due to the fact that it is linked to behavioral procedures responsible for causing positive feelings to people involved. The aim of this study was to confirm the “Physical Activity Class Satisfaction Questionnaire” in a Greek educational dancing context. The internal consistency of the questionnaire has also been examined. The sample of the study consisted of 482 participants, 184 males, and 298 females. All participants have attended Greek traditional dance courses in dancing associations among Greece. The scale consists of 45 questions which constitute nine factors. The following statistical analyses were carried out: Questionnaire’s validity and reliability were examined via exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability analysis was conducted to examine the internal cohesion of the factors. Descriptive statistics have been calculated to broadly examine the degree of satisfaction. Results’ analysis arrived at the following conclusion: a. The Greek version of the questionnaire has shown stable stationary psychometric properties, which partially support its use in the Greek dancing context. b. Correlations among subscales indicated a related factor model supporting the construct validity of the scale. A satisfação é um fator que contribui para aumentar a participação nas atividades desportivas, principalmentepor estar ligada a procedimentos comportamentais responsáveis por gerarem sentimentos positivos nas pessoas envolvidas. O objetivo deste estudo foi confirmar o “Questionário de Satisfação da Aula de Educação Física” num contexto educacional grego de dança. A consistência interna do questionário também foi examinada. A amostra do estudo foi composta por 482 participantes, sendo que 184 eram homens e 298 eram mulheres. Todos os participantes frequentaram cursos de dança tradicional grega em diferentes associações de dança na Grécia. A escala é composta por 45 questões que constituem nove fatores. Foram realizadas as seguintes análises estatísticas: A validade e confiabilidade do questionário foram examinadas através de uma análise de fatores exploratória e uma análise de fatores confirmatória. A análise de confiabilidade foi conduzida para examinar a coesão interna dos fatores. Foram calculadas estatísticas descritivas para examinaramplamente o grau de satisfação. A análise dos resultados chegou à seguinte conclusão: a) A versão grega do questionário mostrou propriedades psicométricas estacionárias estáveis, que suportam parcialmente o seu uso no contexto da dança grega. b) As correlações entre as subescalas indicaram um modelo de fator relacionado que suporta a validade de construção da escala.

Background. The subject of PE is often considered as a field of equal opportunities and cultural coexistence, which facilitate social skills and create a harmonic environment. Sports are a most suitable field for developing social skills, facing the "different" and embodying normally all the participants who come from different cultural environments. Objectives. The aim of this study was to control the validity and credibility of the Greek version Student's Behaviors'Self-evaluation Scale, in a Greek multicultural educational environment and specifically in relation to secondary school students during their participating in the physical education classes. The psychometrical qualities of the scale were examined in addition to the influence of gender and age, as factors which differentiate the social skills of students. Methods. The participants of the research were 182 male and female students studying in six multicultural secondary Schools in distinct geographical areas. The statistical analyses that were applied were: Confirmatory factor analysis, Reliability analysis, Independent-sample t-test and one-way ANOVA analysis. Results. The results showed that the internal consistency of the sub-scales was high, since alpha Cronbach fluctuated in high levels (goals 0.84, rewards 0.85, relations 0.88, irresponsibility 0.78 and help 0.79). The confirmatory factor analysis certified the suggested structure of the climax (chi(2) (413.33) / d.f. (109) = 3.79; P < 0.05; NFI=0.91, CFI=0.92, RMSEA=0.075 and SRMR=0.042). Conclusion. Therefore, the results confirmed the suitability of the Students' Behavior Self-evaluation Scale for the Greek school environment during physical education lesson. In addition, there was a confirmation that gender is a differentiation factor, while class (age) is not.