ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Pediatric Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1606776
This article is part of the Research TopicPromoting Healthy Lifestyles Through Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents: Impacts, Benefits, and Future PerspectivesView all articles
Physical Activity and Executive Function in Chinese Preschool Children: The Mediating Role of Sleep Problems
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Physical Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
- 2Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 3School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Bejing, China
- 4Wenhan Kindergarten Education Group of Hangzhou Qiantang District, Hangzhou, China
- 5uncheng Kindergarten of Hangzhou West Lake District, Hangzhou, China
- 6School of Teacher Education, Taizhou University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between physical activity and executive function in preschool children, with a particular focus on the mediating role of sleep problem.: A total of 159 preschool children participated in this study. Physical activity levels were objectively measured using the ActiGraph GT3X-BT. Sleep problems and executive function were assessed using the Chinese versions of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version. Statistical analyses including correlation and mediation analyses were conducted using SPSS 29.0 and Mplus 8.0. Results: (1) Light physical activity (LPA) (r = -0.53, p < 0.01), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (r = -0.61, p < 0.01), and total physical activity (TPA) (r = -0.64, p < 0.01) showed significantly negatively correlated with executive function scores. (2) LPA (r = -0.27, p < 0.01), MVPA (r = -0.29, p < 0.01), and TPA (r = -0.31, p < 0.01) were significantly negatively correlated with sleep problems. (3) Sleep problems were significantly positively correlated with executive function scores (r = 0.47, p < 0.01). (4) Sleep problems mediated 24.65%-28.20% of the effects of LPA, MVPA, and TPA on executive function. Conclusion: Higher levels of LPA, MVPA, and TPA were significantly associated with better executive function and fewer sleep problems in preschool children. Sleep problems play a partial mediating role in the relationship between physical activity and executive function. These findings suggest that preschool educators and parents should implement appropriate physical activity interventions to improve sleep health, ultimately fostering optimal executive function development in young children.
Keywords: physical activity, Executive Function, Preschool children, sleep problems, Chinese
Received: 06 Apr 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zhang, Li, Zhou, Huang and Tu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sanhua Zhang, Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, Jiangsu Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.