The Effect of Stretching on Fatigue and Concentration in High School Students

스트레칭이 고등학생의 피로와 주의집중력에 미치는 영향

Objectives: This study was conducted to test whether stretching helps high school students recover from their fatigue and improve concentration. Method: The method of this study adopted a nonequivalent control group with pre-test and post-test designs. The period of data collection was from November to December in 2004. The 135 subjects were randomly selected from two high schools in Ulsan : one school as control group(n=66) and the other school as an experimental group(n=69). The experimental group had stretching for 10 minutes before the start of their fifth period class, five times a week(once a day) 4weeks of period, but the control group did not do. Result: After stretching, the students' level of fatigue in the experiment group was immensely reduced (t=4.75, p<.001). After the stretching, the concentration level of the experimental group increased vastly compared to the control group (t=3.35, p≤.005). Conclusion: Stretching is useful to reduce fatigue and improve concentration of high school students. This study recommended that stretching, which is not limited by high physical techniques, or specific time or spaces would help high school students' health, since they do not exercise regularly and are tired physically and mentally.