Active Breaks Show Promise in Boosting Academic Performance for Children with and without ADHD

Key Insights

• A new study, Break4Brain, investigates the impact of physical activity (PA) on academic achievement in children, focusing on those with and without ADHD.
• The study employs a two-phase design, including a crossover study and a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT), to assess acute and chronic PA effects.
• Researchers will evaluate changes in brain function, academic performance, working memory, and attention through various experimental conditions and interventions.

The Break4Brain project is set to explore the effects of physical activity on academic performance in children, with a specific focus on those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The study, detailed in Frontiers in Psychology, will employ a two-phase design to investigate both the immediate and long-term impacts of active breaks on cognitive functions and academic success.

Study Design and Methodology

The research will unfold in two distinct phases. Phase I involves a crossover design where 60 children aged 10-12 (30 with ADHD and 30 without) will participate in a laboratory-based study. Over four days, participants will engage in three counterbalanced experimental conditions: (i) physical activity with cognitive engagement, (ii) physical activity without cognitive engagement, and (iii) a cognitively engaging control condition. This phase aims to measure changes in brain function, academic performance, working memory, inhibitory control, and sustained attention.

Phase II will broaden the scope to include 600 children aged 10-12, randomly assigned to either a video-based physical activity program or a control group (300 children per group) over an 8-week period. This cluster RCT will also incorporate a qualitative component, gathering insights from teachers, school staff, and students through interviews and questionnaires to understand the implementation context. The primary outcomes of interest in this phase are working memory, cognitive flexibility, selective attention, and academic performance.

Expected Outcomes and Significance

The researchers hypothesize that physical activity conditions will lead to improvements in the measured outcomes compared to the control condition in the crossover study. Furthermore, they anticipate that the 8-week active break program will result in significant enhancements in the selected outcomes compared to the control group in the RCT.

"This study is expected to make pioneering contributions by including novel variables and focusing on the ADHD population," the researchers noted. The Break4Brain project aims to provide evidence supporting the integration of physical activity into educational settings to improve cognitive and academic outcomes for children, particularly those with ADHD.