Staying Active Makes Children Less Reactive: Associations Among Physical Activity, Screentime, Challenging Behavior, and Numeracy

• In Event: Promoting well-being, social-emotional development and executive functioning in early childhood classrooms

Abstract

Introduction: An important policy-relevant issue is growing expulsion rates in preschoolers, which is primarily attributed to children exhibiting challenging behaviors—including low self-regulation, inattention, and lack of inhibitory control. Even when not expelled, children exhibiting these challenging behaviors may miss out on learning opportunities in early childhood classrooms. Although an active lifestyle has been shown to support academic achievement and self-regulatory skills—including attention and impulse control—in older children, these relationships have not been explored in early childhood. The present study examined the associations between physical activity, sedentary screentime, challenging behavior, and quantity estimation in preschool-aged children (3-5 years old).

Methods: A sample of 123 children (n = 65 female; 4.9 ± 0.7 years) completed a computerized approximate number system task assessing quantity estimation. During the task, trained observers recorded frequency of challenging behaviors. Caregivers reported on children’s physical activity and sedentary screentime for the previous 7 days. Separate hierarchical linear regression models were performed to examine the independent contribution of meeting physical activity and screentime recommendations as well as weekly volume of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (duration × number of days) for explaining variance in challenging behavior and quantity estimation accuracy beyond significant descriptive factors (i.e., age and ratio).

Results: Children meeting either physical activity ∆R2 = 0.01, R2adj = 0.58 (B = 4.19 [95% CI: 0.16 to 8.22], SE B = 2.05, β = 0.08) or screentime recommendations individually ∆R2 = 0.02, R2adj = 0.59 (B = 6.34 [95% CI: 2.47 to 10.21], SE B = 1.97, β = 0.13) exhibited superior accuracy of the approximate number system (see Figure 1A & 1B; Table 1), ∆F’s (4, 253) ≥ 4.2, p’s ≤ 0.042, f 2 ≥ 0.02 [95% CI: 0 to 0.14]. Children who accrued more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the week exhibited reduced challenging behavior (see Figure 1C; Table 1), (B = -0.03 [95% CI: -0.05 to -0.01], SE B = 0.01, β = -0.22), ∆R2 = 0.05, R2adj = 0.09, ∆F (2, 118) = 6.2, p = 0.014, f 2 = 0.05 [95% CI: 0.0 to 0.14].

Conclusion: Meeting physical activity and screentime recommendations relates to superior quantity estimation in early childhood. Additionally, accruing more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity during the week is associated with a reduced challenging behaviors. These findings suggest that an active lifestyle in early childhood may support young children’s self-regulation and early educational outcomes. Thus, finding ways to promote physical activity in early childhood classrooms may be one means to address growing expulsions rates—which are higher in African American boys and children who live in poverty (Gillam, 2005)—an important policy-relevant issue.

Authors

• Amanda L. McGowan, Concordia University
  Presenting Author

• Hope K Gerde, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Matthew B Pontifex, Michigan State University
  Non-Presenting Author