Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children

It is well known that curricular physical activity benefits children’s executive functions and academic performance. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether there is an influence of extracurricular sports on executive functions and academic performance. However, it is less known which speci...

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Autores principales:	Giulia Giordano, Manuel Gómez-López, Marianna Alesi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	sport physical activity and sport in youth executive functions academic performance Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/64221f73736a444b81fcb034e8082e89
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:64221f73736a444b81fcb034e8082e892021-11-25T17:47:55ZSports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children10.3390/ijerph1822117451660-46011661-7827https://doaj.org/article/64221f73736a444b81fcb034e8082e892021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11745https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601It is well known that curricular physical activity benefits children’s executive functions and academic performance. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether there is an influence of extracurricular sports on executive functions and academic performance. However, it is less known which specific types of the sport better enhance executive functions in children; to investigate this issue, this study compared the performance on executive functions tasks and academic performance in one hundred and two boys and girls with an average age of 11.84 years recruited from Italian schools and gyms (<i>N</i> = 102), who participated in martial arts or team sports or were sedentary children. Executive functions were measured with the tests: Attenzione e Concentrazione, Digit Span test, Tower of London, IOWA Gambling task BVN 5-11, and BVN 12-18. Results demonstrated that children practicing martial arts showed better executive functioning and higher school marks than those involved in team sports or not involved in any sports. Furthermore, participants aged 12 to 15 years old outperformed in cool and hot executive functions tasks and had a better academic performance. Thus, the present findings supported the view that regular practice of extracurricular sports enhances executive functions development and consequently influences academic performance.Giulia GiordanoManuel Gómez-LópezMarianna AlesiMDPI AGarticlesportphysical activity and sport in youthexecutive functionsacademic performanceMedicineRENInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 11745, p 11745 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	sport physical activity and sport in youth executive functions academic performance Medicine R
spellingShingle	sport physical activity and sport in youth executive functions academic performance Medicine R Giulia Giordano Manuel Gómez-López Marianna Alesi Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children
description	It is well known that curricular physical activity benefits children’s executive functions and academic performance. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether there is an influence of extracurricular sports on executive functions and academic performance. However, it is less known which specific types of the sport better enhance executive functions in children; to investigate this issue, this study compared the performance on executive functions tasks and academic performance in one hundred and two boys and girls with an average age of 11.84 years recruited from Italian schools and gyms (<i>N</i> = 102), who participated in martial arts or team sports or were sedentary children. Executive functions were measured with the tests: Attenzione e Concentrazione, Digit Span test, Tower of London, IOWA Gambling task BVN 5-11, and BVN 12-18. Results demonstrated that children practicing martial arts showed better executive functioning and higher school marks than those involved in team sports or not involved in any sports. Furthermore, participants aged 12 to 15 years old outperformed in cool and hot executive functions tasks and had a better academic performance. Thus, the present findings supported the view that regular practice of extracurricular sports enhances executive functions development and consequently influences academic performance.
format	article
author	Giulia Giordano Manuel Gómez-López Marianna Alesi
author_facet	Giulia Giordano Manuel Gómez-López Marianna Alesi
author_sort	Giulia Giordano
title	Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children
title_short	Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children
title_full	Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children
title_fullStr	Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children
title_full_unstemmed	Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children
title_sort	sports, executive functions and academic performance: a comparison between martial arts, team sports, and sedentary children
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/64221f73736a444b81fcb034e8082e89
work_keys_str_mv	AT giuliagiordano sportsexecutivefunctionsandacademicperformanceacomparisonbetweenmartialartsteamsportsandsedentarychildren AT manuelgomezlopez sportsexecutivefunctionsandacademicperformanceacomparisonbetweenmartialartsteamsportsandsedentarychildren AT mariannaalesi sportsexecutivefunctionsandacademicperformanceacomparisonbetweenmartialartsteamsportsandsedentarychildren
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Sports, Executive Functions and Academic Performance: A Comparison between Martial Arts, Team Sports, and Sedentary Children

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