GENDER AND AGE DIFFERENCES IN SOCIAL FEAR AMONG YOUNG SWIMMERS 5-8 YEARS
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May 25, 2026
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Rana Kouadri
Mefti Abd Elmounaim
Amina Chafaa
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5245-5379
Kamel Berroudj
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5245-5379
Kamel Berroudj
Abstract
This study examined social phobia levels among 72 children (54.17% males) aged 5-8 years enrolled in structured swimming programs at Al-Wefaq Sports Club, analyzing gender and age-based differences. A validated social phobia scale exhibited strong psychometric properties. Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests confirmed non-normal distributions (p < 0.05), justifying non-parametric analyses using SPSS v28. Mann-Whitney U tests revealed no significant gender differences (U = 599, p = 0.613), while Kruskal-Wallis tests showed no age group differences (H = 0.191, p = 0.984). Mean ranks were comparable across males (37.64), females (35.15), and age groups (5yo: 38.13; 6yo: 35.41; 7yo: 37.31; 8yo: 35.98). Findings suggest exploring environmental/psychological factors using mixed-methods, conducting longitudinal studies to track developmental trajectories, and comparing swimmers versus non-swimmers to isolate sport-specific effects.
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Keywords
social Fear, childhood, swimming programs, gender, age groups
References
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20. Wall Emerson, R. (2023). Mann-Whitney U test and t -test. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 117(1), 99–100. https://doi. org/10.1177/0145482X221150592
2. Barch, D. M., Albaugh, M. D., Baskin-Sommers, A., Bryant, B. E., Clark, D. B., Dick,
A. S., ... & Xie, L. (2021). Demographic and mental health assessments in the adolescent brain and cognitive development study: Updates and age-related trajectories. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 52, 101031. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101031
3. Bitsko, R. H., Claussen, A. H., Lichtstein, J., Black, L. J., Everett Jones, S., Danielson,
M. D., ... & Ghandour, R. M. (2022). Surveillance of children’s mental health– United States, 2013–2019. MMWR, 71(2), 1-42. https://doi.org/10.15585/ mmwr.su7102a1
4. Bittner, A., Egger, H. L., Erkanli, A., Jane Costello, E., Foley, D. L., & Angold, A. (2007). What do childhood anxiety disorders predict?. Journal of Child Psychology and psychiatry, 48(12), 1174-1183. https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1469-7610.2007.01812.x
5. Castaños-Cervantes, S., Vélez-Agosto, N., Health Department, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Mexico City, Mexico, & Department of Psychology, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico. (2020). Psychosocial Predictors of Social Anxiety in Children. Suma Psicológica, 27(1), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.14349/sumapsi.2020.v27.n1.6
6. Chadaga, K., Prabhu, S., Sampathila, N., Chadaga, R., Bhat, D., Sharma, A. K., & Swathi, K. (2024). SADXAI: Predicting social anxiety disorder using multiple interpretable artificial intelligence techniques. SLAS Technology, 29(2), 100129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.slast.2024.100129
7. Chronis-Tuscano, A., Danko, C. M., Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., & Novick, D. R. (2018). Future Directions for Research on Early Intervention for Young Children at Risk for Social Anxiety. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 47(4), 655–667. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1426006
8. Field, A. (2024). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Sage publications limited.
9. Haga, M., Sääkslahti, A., Schenker, K., Bruun, T. H., Guldager, J. D., Gísladóttir, Þ. L., ... & Bjerke, Ø. (2025). Aquatic education for school children: An educational expert statement from the Nordic Consortium. Journal for Research in Arts and Sports Education, 9(2), 39-61. https://doi.org/10.23865/jased.v9.6785
10. Kitchen, C. M. R. (2009). Nonparametric vs Parametric Tests of Location in Biomedical Research. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 147(4), 571–572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2008.06.031
11. Matić, I., & Musil, V. (2023). Subjective Well-Being and Self-Assessed Health of Adolescents: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 13(12), 2853–2862. https://doi. org/10.3390/ejihpe13120197
12. Mishra, P., Pandey, C. M., Singh, U., Gupta, A., Sahu, C., & Keshri, A. (2019). Descriptive statistics and normality tests for statistical data. Annals of cardiac anaesthesia, 22(1), 67-72. https://doi.org/10.4103/aca.ACA_157_18
13. Moore, S. A., Dowdy, E., Nylund-Gibson, K., & Furlong, M. J. (2019). A latent transition analysis of the longitudinal stability of dual-factor mental health in adolescence. Journal of School Psychology, 73, 56–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jsp.2019.03.003
14. Okafor, C. N., Jean-Berluche, D., Paltzer, J., Kwon, E., Grigoropoulou, N., VanderWeele, T. J., & Johnson, B. R. (2025). A cross-national analysis of demographic variation in self-rated mental health across 22 countries. Communications Medicine, 5(1), 320. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-025- 01038-8
15. Silva, L. A. D., Doyenart, R., Henrique Salvan, P., Rodrigues, W., Felipe Lopes, J., Gomes, K., ... & Silveira, P. C. (2020). Swimming training improves mental health parameters, cognition and motor coordination in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 30(5), 584–592. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2019.1612041
16. Slavich, G. M., & Sacher, J. (2019). Stress, sex hormones, inflammation, and major depressive disorder: Extending Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression to account for sex differences in mood disorders. Psychopharmacology, 236(10), 3063–3079. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05326-9
17. Tapio, R. P. (2025). The Role of Data Assumptions in Selecting Between Parametric and Nonparametric Tests. Asian Journal of Probability and Statistics, 27(11), 127–135. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajpas/2025/v27i11830
18. Tng, G. Y., Law, E. C., Chen, H. Y., Nadarajan, R., Eriksson, J. G., Chong, Y. S., ... & Setoh, P. (2025). Developmental Trajectories of Anxiety Subtypes from Childhood to Early Adolescence: the Role of Parenting Practices and Maternal Distress. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 53(11), 1699-1712. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-025-01364-4
19. Vogel, F., Reichert, J., Hartmann, D., & Schwenck, C. (2023). Cognitive Variables in Social Anxiety Disorder in Children and Adolescents: A Network Analysis. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 54(3), 625–638. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10578-021-01273-9
20. Wall Emerson, R. (2023). Mann-Whitney U test and t -test. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 117(1), 99–100. https://doi. org/10.1177/0145482X221150592
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Kouadri, R., Abd Elmounaim, M., Chafaa, A., & Berroudj , K. . (2026). GENDER AND AGE DIFFERENCES IN SOCIAL FEAR AMONG YOUNG SWIMMERS 5-8 YEARS. Physical Education and Sport Through The Centuries, 13(1), 93–100. Retrieved from https://phedss.fsfv-pr.rs/index.php/phedss/article/view/72
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