Adolescents with high weekly physical exercise hours (more than 4 h/week) show significantly better selective attention, concentration, and processing speed than lower-exercise groups, with no differences between low and moderate groups¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2020 · 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? Only adolescents in the high-exercise group (more than 4 h/week) differed significantly from lower-exercise groups on cognitive measures; low and moderate groups did not differ. → Reigal 2020
Evidence¶
Reigal 2020¶
Reigal, R. E., Hernández-Mendo, A., Juárez-Ruiz de Mier, R., and Morales-Sánchez, V. (2020). Physical Exercise and Fitness Level Are Related to Cognitive and Psychosocial Functioning in Adolescents. Front. Psychol. 11:1777. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01777
q3 · i? · associational · r2
Between-group ANOVA comparisons (with Bonferroni post hoc tests) among 208 adolescents divided into three weekly-exercise groups showed that "only those who engaged in a high number of hours of activity per week (Group 3) showed significant differences" on D2-TOT, D2-CON, Symbol Search, Coding, and Processing Speed; no effect sizes were printed for these cognitive contrasts.
"it is noteworthy that there were no differences between adolescents with low and moderate levels of physical exercise (Groups 1 and 2). That is, only those who engaged in a high number of hours of activity per week (Group 3) showed significant differences from those with lower levels."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Exercise-hour groups differ on fitness, cognitive, and several psychosocial variables, but not on social dysfunction or severe depression — a broader claim this one bears on
- GHQ social dysfunction and severe depression show no group differences by exercise hours but are significantly related to physical fitness in correlation and regression — related
- Physical activity, including brief aerobic exercise sessions, improves children's selective attention — a broader claim this one bears on
- Small pilot studies provide preliminary evidence that exercise interventions improve behavioral symptoms and neuropsychological functioning in children with ADHD — related
- Intervention studies show stronger physical-activity effects on children's cognition than correlational studies — related
- Adults with ADHD who frequently engage in physical exercise report healthier psychological well-being than those who do not — related
- Physical fitness measures correlate with selective attention and concentration in adolescents, with VO2max showing moderate correlations — related
- Adolescents in the higher physical fitness cluster score better on attention and concentration than the lower-fitness cluster, in both boys and girls — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
high-exercise-hours-better-cognitive-adolescents |
title |
Adolescents with high weekly physical exercise hours (more than 4 h/week) show significantly better selective attention, concentration, and processing speed than lower-exercise groups, with no differences between low and moderate groups |
description |
Adolescents with high weekly physical exercise hours (more than 4 h/week) show significantly better selective attention, concentration, and processing speed than lower-exercise groups, with no differences between low... |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2020 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — reigal-2020 |
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