Effects of a school-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu programme on mental health and classroom behaviour of children from Abu Dhabi: a randomised trial

ABSTRACT

This study is a randomised trial which aimed to evaluate the effects of a school-based Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) programme on the mental health and classroom behaviour of children from a secondary public school in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). For this, 88 male sixth-grade schoolchildren were randomly (randomisation [1:1] by lot) assigned to either a BJJ class (experimental group) or a traditional physical education class (control group) for 12 weeks. As inclusion criteria, eligible participants were all children aged 10 through 13, enrolled in the sixth grade of the UAE. The experimental group took two classes per week of BJJ, and the control group took two classes per week of traditional physical education. For the assessment of the primary outcome, the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire for Teachers model (SDQ-t) was completed before and after the interventions by two classroom teachers. During the study, 8 children did not attend the minimum number of classes and were excluded from the final analyses, leaving 80 children (40 in each group). The results showed that BJJ classes significantly decreased emotional symptoms (p =  0.007; small effect), hyperactivity/inattention (p < 0.001, moderate effect), total difficulties score (p =  0.002; moderate effect), and externalising problems (p =  0.001, |²=  0.07; moderate effect), when compared with classes of traditional physical education. Thus, the findings of the current study showed that male sixth-grade students in a public school in the UAE demonstrated significant improvements in mental health, as well as in classroom behaviour following their participation in a 12 week BJJ programme.

KEYWORDS:

• Combat sports
• martial arts
• mental disorders
• Middle East
• physical education

Acknowledgment

The authors thanks the Palms Sports Company, Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) of UAE. Acknowledgment to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Foundation for research and innovation support of the State of Santa Catarina (FAPESC) - Grant number 2019031000035 and call number 027/2020. Leonardo Vidal Andreato thanks the CAPES for the received fellowship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.