Importance of emotional management in child-youth aquatic education: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: In terms of the texts found, they appeared in the first instance related to sports in competitive environments, the link between the teacher and the child, related to physical activities in general, among others. However, when we applied filters and limited the survey, orienting it towards children's practice of aquatic activities and the link between emotional education and activities in the aquatic world, we found a gap. For this reason, we have set aside for this study those articles that deal with emotions at an early age and those that link them to teaching methodology. From these, we intend to infer the relationship between the management of emotions and the teaching of aquatic activities.
It has also been decided to include research on emotional management in populations with functional diversity, such as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and Cerebral Palsy, which have always been more numerous than those found in typically developing populations.
Objectives: The aim of the present work was to carry out a bibliographical review of the studies that have been carried out in the last 20 years on emotional management and aquatic activities in childhood and adolescence. In the hope of contributing to the understanding of the factors associated with the improvement of emotional management in this environment.
Method: This study consisted of a systematic review, in which the results of research on emotional management in the aquatic environment were selected and analysed. The exhaustive search for published works on emotional management used as a filter, publications from the last 20 years and exclusively related to the aquatic environment.
The bibliographic search was based on electronic databases, compiled from: SCOPUS, Web of Science, Dialnet, SciELO, EBSCOhost, Timbo Foco and Google Scholar.
Results: The review yielded results related to benefits for the development of the infant in two areas: a) personal and b) social. Regarding the personal sphere, the works report improvements related to working on emotional management in the aquatic environment with respect to the child's self-concept and their own personal perception.
Conclusions: In this study we conclude, based on the results of the studies reviewed, that emotional management in the aquatic environment is fundamental to contribute to the integral development of the child, as it participates not only at a personal level, from the improvement of self-knowledge and self-perception, but also at a social level, fostering relationships with others, whether in typically developing children and adolescents or with functional diversity.
Keywords: emotional management, aquatic education, children, well-being.