Study on the Effects of the Physical Education Program in Japanese University: Integrates Sports and Life Skills Development

Life skills (LS) training programs help individuals develop their mental health and stress-related attitudes. This study aims to build a versatile physical education program (PEP) to promote LS and examine its effectiveness. The subjects were first-year Japanese university students. We conducted the LS survey in April (pre-semester) and August (post-semester) 2019. To analyze the difference in LS subscales scores depending on the PEP at the pre-semester/post-semester, we conducted two-way ANOVA repeated measures with the Semester-Sports item and examined simple main effects. As a result, there were significant interactions on the subscales "leadership (F (2,285) = 8.20, P < 0.001), " "planning (F (2,285) = 3.97, p < 0.05)," "self-esteem (F (2,285) = 7.73, p < 0.001)," and "positive thinking (F (2,285) = 3.07, p < 0.05)." Multiple comparison results showed that average scores for Tai Chi were significantly higher than Nordic walking and Basketball at the pre-semester. Moreover, there was a significant difference in all LS subscales between pre-semester and post-semester. This study suggested this PEP effectively developed the LS for new university students.