Culturally grounded traditional games and stress regulation in rural andean children: Psychosocial and autonomic responses

Abstract

Childhood stress is being established as a significant risk factor of poor emotional regulation, social functioning, and physiological adaptation, especially in rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas where formal mental-health services are less reachable. School-based physical activity is an important and available avenue of preventive intervention in such situations. The present study explored the psychological and autonomic outcomes of a culturally-grounded physical-education intervention founded on the local Peruvian games that were introduced in the rural Andean children. The quasi-experimental pre-post design was applied where 300 children ranging between 8-12 years, attending rural and peri-urban schools in the Huancavelica district of Peru were utilized. The intervention involved a six-week intervention that involved the use of structured traditional games administered thrice a week in the school physical-education environment. Perceived stress, subjective well-being, happiness and the quality of peer-relationship were measured using validated scales determined to be child-friendly. Short-term (HRV) recording of physiological adaptation was assessed using time domain, spectral and nonlinear Poincaré indices. Making of correlation models, HRV distributional analysis, Gaussian mixture modeling to determine latent response profiles, and building of a two-dimensional Gaussian vulnerability surface that fuses psychological and physiological change were all used as data analysis. Findings showed that perceived stress reduction was also always related to important changes in the psychosocial indicators such as well-being, positive affect, and peer relationships. HRV results showed significant autonomic response changes after the intervention with an increase in parasympathetic modulation and better nonlinear variability patterns. Gaussian mixture modeling found three vulnerability response phenotypes with the distinction of children based on the extent of stress reduction, autonomic recovery, socioeconomic background, and psychosocial benefits. The Gaussian vulnerability surface also indicated a protective effect which was synergistic as the greatest vulnerability was observed at times of psychological stress reduction and autonomic improvement cooccurrence. In conclusion, the results of the study furnish sound support that culturally oriented traditional games when implemented in school physical education have a promising potential in improving stress management and multidimensional well-being among vulnerable groups of children. The research justifies the incorporation of culturally responsive physical activity in physical-education courses as an inexpensive and scalable initiative towards encouraging psychophysiological well-being in rural areas.