Positive relationships of character strengths with fitness and physical activity in primary school children

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of participants.

	Boys (n = 247)						Girls (n = 226)
	Fourth-grade (n = 106)		Fifth-grade (n = 66)		Sixth-grade (n = 75)		Fourth-grade (n = 113)		Fifth-grade (n = 54)		Sixth-grade (n = 59)
Age	9.6	(0.5)^a	10.7	(0.5)^c	11.6	(0.5)	9.7	(0.5)^a	10.7	(0.5)^c	11.7	(0.4)
Character strengths
Perseverance-honesty	3.4	(0.5)^a	3.2	(0.6)	3.0	(0.5)	3.5	(0.4)	3.4	(0.4)	3.4	(0.5)
Courage-ideas	3.1	(0.6)	3.0	(0.7)	2.9	(0.6)	3.2	(0.5)^d	2.9	(0.7)	3.1	(0.6)
Compassion-gratitude	3.3	(0.6)	3.4	(0.5)^c	3.2	(0.5)	3.6	(0.4)	3.6	(0.4)	3.5	(0.4)
Fairness-care	3.0	(0.7)	3.0	(0.7)	2.9	(0.6)	3.3	(0.5)	3.1	(0.6)	3.2	(0.5)
Physical fitness
Hand grip^1	52.0	(8.6)	49.7	(7.0)	52.8	(11.4)	49.8	(8.2)	51.6	(9.5)	49.9	(9.1)
Sit-ups^1	49.8	(9.5)	50.0	(8.5)	47.9	(8.5)	47.6	(10.2)	51.1	(12.7)^c	45.1	(7.4)
Sit and reach^1	49.4	(8.3)^b	51.6	(9.5)^c	45.9	(9.1)	48.6	(8.6)^d	56.5	(9.6)^c	46.6	(8.4)
Side-to-side jump^1	53.0	(8.5)	50.9	(9.5)	49.8	(8.9)	53.1	(9.2)	50.0	(11.8)	49.9	(7.6)
20m shuttle run^1	47.4	(8.6)	46.0	(9.0)	46.7	(9.0)	49.1	(8.5)^d	42.0	(9.3)^c	46.6	(6.2)
50m dash^1	46.4	(16.6)	49.0	(9.1)	48.0	(10.3)	47.2	(8.8)	48.2	(12.5)	49.0	(9.3)
Standing broad jump^1	50.4	(10.6)	49.9	(8.5)	49.9	(10.8)	49.5	(8.7)	49.4	(8.7)	49.1	(8.3)
Softball throwing^1	48.3	(10.1)	48.1	(8.9)	48.9	(11.5)	51.8	(12.0)	49.9	(9.7)	51.6	(10.3)
Total score^2	49.6	(7.0)	49.4	(6.0)	48.7	(7.3)	49.6	(6.3)	49.8	(7.0)	48.5	(5.8)
Physical activity
Total steps (steps/day)	15198.0	(3470.8)	-	-	-	-	12959.9	(2818.7)	-	-	-	-
MVPA (min/day)	48.7	(15.3)	-	-	-	-	37.3	(12.5)	-	-	-	-

Notes: MVPA: moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; Values are means ± standard deviations; ¹T-score; ²Total score was calculated as the average of the T-scores of the eight test physical fitness items; ^aFourth-grade differ from fifth-grade and sixth grade (p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA tests; Bonferroni analyses); ^bFourth-grade differs from sixth-grade (p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA tests; Bonferroni analyses); ^cFifth-grade differs from sixth-grade (p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA tests; Bonferroni analyses); ^dFourth-grade differs from fifth-grade (p < 0.05, one-way ANOVA tests; Bonferroni analyses).

Table 2. Relationship between character strengths and physical fitness.

	Hand grip^1		Sit-ups^2		Sit and reach^3		Side-to-side jump^4		20m shuttle run^5		50m dash^6		Standing broad jump^7		Softball throwing^8		Total score
	r	p value	R	p value	r	p value	r	p value	r	p value	r	p value	r	p value	r	p value	r	p value
Boys (n = 247)
Perseverance-honesty	0.10	0.11	0.19	0.00	0.14	0.03	0.24	0.00	0.23	0.00	0.26	0.00	0.15	0.02	0.13	0.05	0.26	0.00
Courage-ideas	0.18	0.00	0.18	0.00	0.12	0.07	0.19	0.00	0.27	0.00	0.12	0.05	0.14	0.03	0.16	0.01	0.24	0.00
Compassion-gratitude	0.10	0.11	0.15	0.02	0.23	0.00	0.17	0.01	0.22	0.00	0.13	0.04	0.10	0.12	0.19	0.00	0.23	0.00
Fairness-care	0.09	0.16	0.13	0.04	0.21	0.00	0.15	0.02	0.19	0.00	0.09	0.17	0.13	0.04	0.14	0.03	0.20	0.00
Girls (n = 226)
Perseverance-honesty	0.00	0.98	0.11	0.09	0.09	0.17	0.12	0.06	0.16	0.01	0.17	0.01	0.16	0.02	0.07	0.27	0.17	0.01
Courage-ideas	0.05	0.44	0.15	0.03	0.01	0.92	0.25	0.00	0.19	0.01	0.21	0.00	0.21	0.00	0.26	0.00	0.25	0.00
Compassion-gratitude	0.08	0.26	0.16	0.02	0.19	0.00	0.12	0.07	0.11	0.09	0.12	0.08	0.16	0.02	0.09	0.18	0.19	0.00
Fairness-care	0.11	0.10	0.15	0.03	0.05	0.42	0.11	0.12	0.05	0.46	0.03	0.68	0.08	0.26	0.06	0.34	0.12	0.07

Notes: ¹muscle strength; ²abdominal strength and endurance; ³flexibility; ⁴agility; ⁵cardiorespiratory endurance; ⁶speed; ⁷explosive leg strength; ⁸explosive arm strength and throwing ability; Analyses were adjusted for grade. Boldface indicates statistical significance for partial correlation tests (p < 0.05).

Table 3. Relationship between character strengths and physical activity.

	Total steps		MVPA
	r	p value	r	p value
Boys (n = 106)
Perseverance-honesty	0.26	0.01	0.21	0.03
Courage-ideas	0.20	0.04	0.16	0.10
Compassion-gratitude	0.13	0.20	0.07	0.48
Fairness-care	0.10	0.30	0.05	0.64
Girls (n = 113)
Perseverance-honesty	0.17	0.07	0.19	0.05
Courage-ideas	0.13	0.16	0.11	0.26
Compassion-gratitude	0.15	0.12	0.16	0.08
Fairness-care	−0.02	0.81	0.00	0.99

Note: MVPA; moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; Boldface indicates statistical significance for Pearson correlation tests (p < 0.05).

Data availability statement

The data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.