Abstract
Physical activity and academic performance are positively associated, but the direction of the association is poorly understood. This longitudinal study examined the direction and magnitude of the associations between leisure-time physical activity and academic performance throughout adolescence and young adulthood. The participants were Finnish twins (from 2,859 to 4,190 individuals/study wave) and their families. In a cross-lagged path model, higher academic performance at ages 12, 14 and 17 predicted higher leisure-time physical activity at subsequent time-points (standardized path coefficient at age 14: 0.07 (p < 0.001), age 17: 0.12 (p < 0.001) and age 24: 0.06 (p < 0.05)), whereas physical activity did not predict future academic performance. A cross-lagged model of co-twin differences suggested that academic performance and subsequent physical activity were not associated due to the environmental factors shared by co-twins. Our findings suggest that better academic performance in adolescence modestly predicts more frequent leisure-time physical activity in late adolescence and young adulthood.
Highlights
Physical activity and academic performance are positively associated, but the direction of the association is poorly understood
We aimed to investigate whether leisure-time physical activity would be predictive for subsequent academic performance and/or educational attainment or vice versa, or both, and whether the possible associations would be sustained after the child leaves school and enters into young adulthood and early working life
We investigated the direction and magnitude of the associations between leisure-time physical activity and academic performance from adolescence to young adulthood in a cross-lagged path model
Summary
Physical activity and academic performance are positively associated, but the direction of the association is poorly understood. Rasberry et al.[9] reviewed some 50 cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, some with follow-ups of several years They focused on the association between school-based physical activity and several indicators of school performance in children from 5 to 18 years of age; they concluded that the association between physical activity and academic performance was either positive or that no relationship could be demonstrated. Several years), physical activity carried out in school settings was found to have either a positive association (10 out 16 studies) or no association with academic performance (6 out of 16 studies) The causality of these relationship can be studied best with randomized controlled trials and interventions, but they have been much rarely conducted in the field of physical activity and academic performance. The authors speculated that some of the studies included in the review were underpowered and/or had too brief of duration of follow-up to be sufficiently reliable
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