Physical Fitness, Selective Attention and Academic Performance in a Pre-Adolescent Sample

José A. Páez-Maldonado, Rafael E. Reigal, Juan P. Morillo-Baro, Hernaldo Carrasco-Beltrán, Antonio Hernández-Mendo and Verónica Morales-Sánchez
Additional contact information
José A. Páez-Maldonado: Pablo de Olavide University, Utrera Road, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Rafael E. Reigal: Faculty of Psychology, University of Malaga, Teatinos Campus, 29071 Malaga, Spain
Juan P. Morillo-Baro: Faculty of Psychology, University of Malaga, Teatinos Campus, 29071 Malaga, Spain
Hernaldo Carrasco-Beltrán: Playa Ancha University, Playa Ancha Avenue, 850 Valparaiso, Chile
Antonio Hernández-Mendo: Faculty of Psychology, University of Malaga, Teatinos Campus, 29071 Malaga, Spain
Verónica Morales-Sánchez: Faculty of Psychology, University of Malaga, Teatinos Campus, 29071 Malaga, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 17, 1-11

Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to analyze the relationships between physical fitness, selective attention, and academic performance in pre-teens. The sample here consists of 135 participants between the ages of 10 and 12 (M = 11.05; SD = 0.61), with 39.26% female ( n = 53) and 60.74% male ( n = 82) participants. Horizontal and vertical jump distances, speed, and cardio-respiratory fitness were evaluated to assess physical fitness. The d2 Test of Attention was used to evaluate selective attention. In addition, data were obtained regarding participant academic performance by analyzing the academic performance. The results show significant relationships between the measures analyzed, highlighting positive associations between physical fitness, cognitive functioning, and academic performance. Thus, participants who were fitter scored better on tests of attention ( Z 133 = −4.07; p < 0.00007, Cohen’s d = 0.75, 95% CI (0.39, 1.11)) and concentration ( t 133 = −3.84; p < 0.0007, Cohen’s d = 0.69, 95% CI (0.33, 1.05)), as well as having higher academic performance ( Z 133 = −2.84; p < 0.0035, Cohen’s d = 0.39, 95% CI (0.04, 0.75)). Cardiorespiratory fitness was the measure of physical fitness that best explained these relationships. The results suggest that maintaining and improving the physical fitness of children and adolescents may help their brain function develop better.

Keywords: physical fitness; selective attention; pre-adolescents; cognitive functioning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6216/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/17/6216/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:17:p:6216-:d:404757

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().