Physical Fitness Level Is Related to Attention and Concentration in Adolescents

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to analyze the relationships among physical fitness, selective attention and concentration in a group of 210 teenagers (43.81% male, 56.19% female) from the city of Málaga (Spain), aged between 11 and 15 years old (M = 13.27, SD = 1.80) that participated in the study. D2 attention test was used in order to analyze selective attention and concentration. Physical fitness was evaluated using the horizontal jump test, the Course Navette test and the 5 × 10 meters speed test. The analysis taken indicated a significant relationship among the physical fitness level, the attention and the concentration, as in the general sample as looking at gender. Linear regression tests performed showed that oxygen consumption is the best predictor of attentional parameters. Cluster analysis shows two groups characterized by a greater or lower physical fitness level. So, the highest physical fitness level group scores better in the attention (e.g., boys: p < 0.001, d' Cohen = 1.01, 95% CI [0.57, 1.44]; girls: p < 0.01, d' Cohen = 0.61, 95% CI [0.24, 0.98]) and the concentration tests (e.g., boys: p < 0.001, d' Cohen = 0.89, 95% CI [0.46, 1.32]; girls: p < 0.01, d' Cohen = 0.58, 95% CI [0.21, 0.95]). Results indicate that physical fitness analysis can be used as a tool for observing differences in the attention and concentration level of the analyzed adolescents, suggesting that a physical performance improvement could be an adequate procedure to develop some cognitive functions during adolescence.

Comparison of Physical Activity Levels in Youths before and during a Pandemic Lockdown

“…In turn, engaging in physical exercise and fitness in adolescence may be appropriate for improving health and well-being, contributing to better development at this stage. Reigal and colleagues’ [ 64 ] findings indicate that adolescents who practiced more weekly physical exercise and had a higher level of physical fitness scored better on the cognitive functioning and psychosocial tests evaluated. Frömel et al [ 65 ] provided similar results, demonstrating that the least depressive symptoms (DS) and the highest well-being were observed in boys and girls with high PA levels in the dimension of recreational PA, which has been highly limited due to sanitary restrictions.…”

Selective Attention and Concentration Are Related to Lifestyle in Chilean Schoolchildren

“…Concentration and attention capacity were obtained using the d2 test [33]. Previous studies have used this test in populations of schoolchildren [9,34]. The d2 consists of a paper and pencil test composed of 14 rows, each with 47 randomly alternated "p" and "d" characters.…”

“…Recently, empirical evidence has confirmed that it is a crucial element for comprehension and learning processes [8]. It has been indicated that concentration is the capacity to maintain attention with precision [9]. In addition, it has been reported that good concentration improves schoolchildren's performances on academic tests [10].…”

What Makes an Elite Shooter and Archer? The Critical Role of Interoceptive Attention

“…In general, attention refers to the ability to focus on specific stimulus or locations (Goldstein, 2011 ). It is an important part of cognitive functioning, which supports various activities of individuals and has many different manifestations, such as alerting, selective, sustained, and divided (Tamm et al, 2013 ; Reigal et al, 2020 ). Earlier studies have found that attention is related to other aspects of cognitive functioning, such as executive control, learning, and memory (Logue and Gould, 2014 ; Bialystok, 2015 ; Campillo et al, 2018 ).…”