Do babies and adults feel the same in an aquatic programme for babies?

Abstract

Background. Interest in aquatic programs for babies has grown significantly, with many families participating worldwide. While numerous studies have examined the effects of these programs on motor development or aquatic learning, little attention has been given to the emotional experiences of the interaction. Understanding how emotions appear in each subject and how they influence the learning process opens a valuable area of exploration in early childhood motor development. Objectives. The goal of this research was to explore the emotional responses of both subjects of the baby-adult dyad during an aquatic programme for babies, and their relation to the aquatic learning process of the baby. Methods. Using a descriptive and intrasubject approach, the study observed fortnightly the emotional reactions to the aquatic motor behaviour of the babies of four dyads during a four-month aquatic programme. We designed an ad hoc system of categories of observation of the babies’ behaviour and the emotional response of both subjects in levels of positive, neutral and negative emotions. Results. The analysis of 1,962 individual emotional responses indicates that each dyad and their subjects behave differently and independently. Results show that an increase of tasks difficulty correlates with more positive emotional responses from adults. In contrast, there is no significant relationship between the difficulty of the tasks of the baby and its emotional responses. Conclusions. Since this is a first approach to the study of emotions in aquatic programmes for babies, its results invite us to debate the relationship between emotions and learning.