Cross-Lagged Associations between Physical Activity, Motor Performance, and Academic Skills in Primary-School Children
Abstract
Purpose
Few longitudinal studies have investigated the interwoven longitudinal dynamics between physical activity (PA), motor performance, and academic skills in middle childhood. Therefore, we investigated the cross-lagged associations between PA, motor performance, and academic skills from Grade 1 to Grade 3 in Finnish primary-school children.
Methods
A total of 189 children aged 6–9 years at baseline comprised the study sample. Total PA was assessed using a questionnaire filled out by parents, moderate-to-vigorous PA by combined heart rate and body movement monitor, motor performance by 10x5-metre shuttle run test, and academic skills by arithmetic fluency and reading comprehension tests in Grade 1 and Grade 3. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling adjusted for gender, parental education, and household income.
Results
The final model fitted the data very well [χ2(37) = 68.516, p = 0.0012, RMSEA = 0.067, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.89], and explained 91% of variance in the latent academic skills variable, 41% of the variance in the latent PA variable, and 32% of variance in motor performance in Grade 3. Better motor performance in Grade 1 was associated with higher academic skills in Grade 3, but it did not predict PA. PA was not directly or indirectly associated with academic skills. However, higher levels of PA in Grade 1 predicted better motor performance in Grade 3. Academic skills did not predict PA or motor performance.
Conclusions
These results suggest that better motor performance, but not PA, predicts later academic skills. Academic skills in Grade 1 do not contribute to PA or motor performance in the early school years.
Main Authors
Format
Articles
Research article
Published
2023
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202402232105Käytä tätä linkitykseen.
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0195-9131
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003163
Language
English
Published in
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
Citation
- Haapala, E. A., Widlund, A., Poikkeus, A.-M., Lima, R. A., Brage, S., Aunio, P., & Lakka, T. A. (2023). Cross-Lagged Associations between Physical Activity, Motor Performance, and Academic Skills in Primary-School Children. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 55(8), 1465-1470. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003163
License
Additional information about funding
Conflict of Interest and Funding Source: The PANIC Study has financially been supported by Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland, Academy of Finland, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland, Research Committee of the Kuopio University Hospital Catchment Area (State Research Funding), Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Foundation for Paediatric Research, Diabetes Research Foundation in Finland, Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Juho Vainio Foundation, Paavo Nurmi Foundation, Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, and the city of Kuopio. Moreover, the PhD students and postdoctoral researchers of The PANIC Study have been supported by Program for Clinical Research and Program for Health Sciences of Doctoral School of University of Eastern Finland, Finnish Doctoral Programs in Public Health, Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation, Paulo Foundation, Jalmari and Rauha Ahokas Foundation, Aarne and Aili Turunen Foundation, Finnish Medical Foundation, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Kuopio Naturalists’ Society, Olvi Foundation, and the city of Kuopio. E. H. has been funded by the Juho Vaino foundation and the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research. The sponsors had no role in designing the study, the collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, the writing of the report, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The authors declare that the results of this study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. 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 results of this study do not constitute endorsement by the American College of Sports Medicine.
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