11th ASEAN Council of Physical Education and Sport (ACPES) International Conference 2025

Abstract

     This study aims to realize an exchange of scientific insights, especially in physical education regarding its role in strengthening the psychosocial well-being of students at the elementary school level. The research method involves elementary school-aged children from Korea and Indonesia (ages 7–12) who participate in this study. The exploratory variable is the frequency of participation in sports classes each week, while the dependent variables include psychological well-being. The overall results of this research show that 17.9% of children reported that they were not very enthusiastic about participating in physical education classes, while 72.1% reported being very enthusiastic about engaging in physical education learning. After adjusting for academic achievement, family economic status, and levels of physical activity, it was found that greater participation in physical education classes is proportionally related to happiness in both genders and grade levels (p<0.05). On the other hand, participation in physical education classes conducted with enthusiasm is associated with a decrease/no stress in boys. The conclusion of this study is that more enthusiastic student participation in physical education classes is related to the psychological well-being of children in Korea and Indonesia. Increasing the number of mandatory physical education and sports sessions is a promising strategy to improve the psychological well-being of children in Korea and Indonesia.

Keywords: Indonesia, Korea, Physical Education, Psychosocial, Elementary School