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. 2024 Jul 10:15:1355434.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1355434. eCollection 2024.

Substantial parallel mediation contribution by cognitive domains in the relationship between adolescents' physical fitness and academic achievements: the Cogni-Action Project

Affiliations

Substantial parallel mediation contribution by cognitive domains in the relationship between adolescents' physical fitness and academic achievements: the Cogni-Action Project

Carlos Cristi-Montero et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine how cognitive domains mediate the link between fitness components, their global score (GFS), and adolescents' academic achievement (ACA) across various school subjects.

Methods: In this study, 1,296 adolescents aged 10-14 participated. GFS was computed by three fitness components (strength, muscular, and cardiorespiratory fitness) through the ALPHA-fitness test battery. ACA was determined by five school subjects (Language, English, Mathematics, Science, and History) and two academic scores (a) "Academic Average" (five subjects) and (b) "Academic-PISA" (Language, Mathematics, and Science). A principal component analysis was performed to establish four factors (working memory [WM], cognitive flexibility [CF], inhibitory control [IC], and fluid reasoning [FR]). A parallel mediation approach was implemented with 5,000 bootstrapped samples controlled for sex, maturity, central obesity, having breakfast before cognitive tasks, schools, and school vulnerability. Total, direct, indirect effects, and mediation percentages were estimated.

Results: Overall, the finding showed a full parallel mediation effect for Language (92.5%) and English (53.9%), while a partial mediation for Mathematics (43.0%), Science (43.8%), History (45.9%), "Academic Average" (50.6%), and "Academic-PISA" (51.5%). In particular, WM, IC, and FR mediated all school subjects except mathematics, where IC was not significant. CF has not mediated any relationship between GF and academic performance.

Conclusion: This study underscores the pivotal role of cognitive domains, specifically WM, IC, and FR, in mediating the link between physical fitness and academic performance in adolescents. These insights have relevant implications for educational and public health policies.

Keywords: academic success; children; exercise; mental health; physical education.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Parallel mediation model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of all mediations addressing in this study.

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Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. CC-M received funding for the Cogni-Action Project from the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research CONICYT/FONDECYT INICIACION 2016 grant no. 11160703, Chile.

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