This
study was undertaken to investigate the effect of physical activity on anger
level in autistic individuals. Study sample included parents of 40 autistic
children (n=20 experimental and n=20 control) aged 10-14 years from Malatya
Private Sevgi Yolu Rehabilitation Center. Three days a week for 16 weeks, the
experimental group did the activities of one-hour walk, jogging, double-leg
jump, and walking along a balancing beam. Individuals in the control group
continued their daily routine without participating in any activity during this
period. Anger levels of autistic individuals were identified using the Trait
Anger and Anger Expression Inventory (TAAEI) developed by Spielberger et al.
(1983) and adapted to Turkish by Özer (1994). The inventory was completed by
the parents of the individuals both in the experimental and control groups following
the 16-week activity program. The collected data was analyzed at the
significance level of 0.05 (i.e. a confidence level of 95%) in SPSS version
22.0. Statistical analysis indicated significant differences between trait
anger, controlled anger, expressed anger and suppressed anger scores (p<0.05).
The results showed that anger levels of the autistic individuals participating
in the physical activity program were lower and the physical activity in autistic
individuals helped anger control. It is recommended that autistic individuals
participate in low intensity activities for at least 3 days a week. By teaching
autistic individuals how to keep their anger under control, interpersonal and
family conflicts, feelings of guilt, low self-esteem and some behavioral (e.g. shyness, crying, unhappiness, anorexia, bulimia) and
physiological problems (e.g.
sweating, headache, difficulty in breathing) can be
avoided.
Primary Language | English |
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Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | December 30, 2018 |
Acceptance Date | November 13, 2018 |
Published in Issue | Year 2018 Volume: 20 Issue: 3 |
Turkish Journal of Sport and Exercise is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC).