Classroom active breaks show no statistically significant effect on attention in schoolchildren¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Pooled effects of active breaks on attention were small and positive but did not reach statistical significance under RVE. → Melguizo-Ibáñez 2026
Evidence¶
Melguizo-Ibáñez 2026¶
Melguizo-Ibáñez, E., Zurita-Ortega, F., Tadeu, P., Ubago-Jiménez, J. L., & Alonso Vargas, J. M. (2026). Classroom Active Breaks as a Physical-Educational Intervention for Executive Functions and Mathematical Outcomes: a Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10146-3
q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2
RVE meta-analysis across 13 attention studies (n = 2079): pooled g = 0.33 with confidence interval crossing zero; "not reaching conven- tional statistical significance". Equivalence was not tested.
"Using the RVE, the effect size remained simi- lar (g = 0.33, 95% CI [− 0.08, 0.71], t(12) = 1.52, p = 0.27), also not reaching conven- tional statistical significance."
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Attention — outcome: instruction changes it
Related Claims¶
- Classroom active breaks show no statistically significant effect on inhibitory control in schoolchildren — related
- Classroom active breaks produce a small but statistically significant positive effect on working memory in schoolchildren aged 6–16 — related
- Effects of active breaks on mathematical achievement are small and lose significance under Robust Variance Estimation — related
- Classroom active breaks show no reliable effect on mathematical fluency — related
- Classroom-based physical activity interventions improve attention and/or on-task behavior in most reviewed studies of schoolchildren aged 4–18 — reports the opposite
- Pooled active-break effect estimates are robust to sensitivity analyses varying within-study correlation and excluding individual studies — related
- Moderate-to-vigorous intensity active breaks are associated with slightly greater working-memory improvements than moderate intensity, in exploratory meta-regression — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
active-breaks-no-significant-effect-attention |
title |
Classroom active breaks show no statistically significant effect on attention in schoolchildren |
description |
Classroom active breaks show no statistically significant effect on attention in schoolchildren |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2026 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-20 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — melguizo-ibáñez-2026 |
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