ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1628814
Time-course Effects of Cognitively Engaging Physical Activity on Executive Function and Self-Control in Younger School-Aged Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Provisionally accepted
- 1Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdańsk, Poland
- 2Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China
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Objective: This study investigated time-course effects of cognitively engaging physical activity (CEPA) on executive function and self-control in younger school-aged children (8-10 years). Methods: Using cluster randomized controlled trial design, 203 children (age=8.9±0.67, 54.7% male) were allocated to CEPA experimental group or traditional physical education control group. The 10-week intervention occurred three times weekly, 45 minutes per session, using graded cognitive load with progressive complexity. Executive function (inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility) and self-control (social interaction, emotional experience, learning behaviors, daily habits) were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up. Linear mixed-effects models accounted for clustered design. Results: Significant time-by-group interactions emerged for inhibitory control (p=0.020, ICC=0.057), working memory (p=0.002, ICC=0.054), and total self-control (p<0.001, ICC=0.040). Cognitive flexibility approached significance (p=0.077). The experimental group showed significant executive function improvements, with working memory demonstrating substantial immediate gains and inhibitory control exhibiting strong retention. Self-control improvements were most pronounced in social interaction (p<0.001) and learning behavior (p<0.001). Intervention effects displayed nonlinear time-course: rapid improvements during intervention, slight attenuation at follow-up but remaining significantly above baseline. No significant changes occurred in the control group. Conclusion: CEPA demonstrates immediate and lasting effectiveness on younger school-aged children's executive function and self-control, with differential effects across domains and nonlinear temporal characteristics. Findings support integrating cognitive engagement elements into school physical education curricula for comprehensive child development.
Keywords: Cognitive-motor intervention1, Executive function2, Self-control3, Younger schoolaged children4, Time-course effects5 Cognitive-motor intervention, Executive Function, Self-Control, Younger school-aged children, randomized controlled trial, time-course effects
Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 12 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 XU, Qi, Białas, Xu, Guo and Chen. 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: Aiguo Chen, Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, China
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