Janssen, L. (Luuk) (2016) The Relationship between Health- and Skill-Related Fitness with Executive Functioning in Elementary-School Children. thesis, Sport Sciences.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Executive functions (EF) are cognitive processes important for goal directed behaviour in children. Two important domains of EF are working memory and inhibition. In the past decade, studies have showed that health-related physical fitness is positively related to the domains of EF. While skill-related physical fitness seems to be an underexposed factor. The aim of this study is to simultaneously examine the relations between health- and skill-related fitness and executive functioning in elementary-school children aged 8-10 years. 115 typically developing children from four elementary-schools in the northern and the western of the Netherlands participated in this study. Cardiorespiratory endurance (health-related fitness) was measured with the 20 meter shuttle run, coordination was measured with the coordination of the upper limb subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test-2 (BOT-2) and agility with the 10x5 meter shuttle run of the Eurofit Test (skill-related fitness). Inhibition was measured with the Stop Signal Task (SST), visuospatial working memory with the VisuoSpatial Working Memory Task (VSWM) and verbal working memory with the Digit Span Test. First, a partial correlation was conducted to examine the relationship between health- and skill-related fitness and the relationship between the domains of EF. Second, a linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relation between health-related fitness and skill-related fitness and the domains of EF separately. Third, a multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the simultaneous relationship between health-, skill-related fitness and the domains of EF. Age and gender were added as covariates in all models. Health- and skill-related fitness were both no significant predictors for the different domains of EF in all models. The current study shows contradicting evidence for the relation between physical fitness and inhibition and working memory. Future studies should include more physical fitness tests to make a clearer distinction between health- and skill-related fitness.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Hartman, dr. E. |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Apr 2022 10:19 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Apr 2022 10:19 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3152 |
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