The Benefits of Acute Exercise for Children's Cognition Are Associated with Trait Anxiety.
Med Sci Sports Exerc
; 56(10): 1916-1925, 2024 Oct 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38778470
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Children's anxiety is associated with decreased cognitive performance. One well-established behavioral intervention to transiently improve cognitive performance in children is acute aerobic exercise (AAE). Thus far, however, it is unclear whether the benefits of AAE on cognition vary based on individual differences in children's anxiety level. Therefore, we investigated whether trait anxiety levels mediate the effects of AAE on cognitive outcomes in preadolescent children.METHODS:
Ninety-five preadolescent children (9 to 11 yr, 41 females) underwent two experimental interventions in a random, crossover, and counterbalanceddesign:
an exercise protocol (20 min of walking at 65% to 75% of HRpeak) and a nonexercise control (seated rest). Behavioral indices of cognitive performance (accuracy, reaction times, response time (RT) variability) were assessed before and after each intervention using a modified flanker task. The effects of each intervention on cognitive performance were calculated as pre- to postintervention differences (effect scores). These scores were first correlated with children's personal characteristics anxiety (STAIC), sex, age, body mass index, intelligence quotient, and aerobic fitness. Significant correlations guided subsequent hierarchical regression models, which specifically tested for associations between the effects scores and anxiety levels while controlling for remaining relevant covariates.RESULTS:
Regression analysis revealed that anxiety was a significant predictor of the effects that AAE and rest had on cognitive performance. Specifically, higher anxiety scores were associated with greater exercise-induced cognitive benefits (increased accuracy, decreased RT variability; all P < 0.05) and greater rest-induced cognitive impairments (decreased accuracy, increased RT variability; all P < 0.01).CONCLUSIONS:
These findings suggest that children reporting higher trait anxiety might experience greater cognitive benefits from a single bout of AAE.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Ansiedad
/
Ejercicio Físico
/
Cognición
/
Estudios Cruzados
Límite:
Child
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Med Sci Sports Exerc
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos