Poster #9 - Testing the Effect of Physical Activity and ADHD Symptoms on Executive Functions in Early Childhood

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Attention, Learning, Memory

Integrative Statement

Physical activity (PA), particularly of moderate to vigorous intensity (MVPA), has been associated with improved cognitive functioning, including executive function (EF) skills in adolescents (Budde et al, 2008) and school-aged children (Hillman, Khan & Kao, 2015). However, less is known about early childhood (Carson et al., 2015), and at least one study has reported an inverse relationship (Willoughby, Wylie & Catellier, 2017). We speculated that the effects of MVPA on EF skills in preschoolers may be conditional on (moderated by) child ADHD behaviors. Here, we test that proposition.

We report data on the first cohort of participants from the Kids Activity and Learning Study, a study that is examining MVPA and EF skills in early childhood. The results here are based on 81 children who were recruited from 9 preschools in North Carolina. MVPA was measured using 5-days of accelerometry that indexed the proportion of time that children spent in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity (Pate et al., 2006). ADHD behaviors were measured using parent report (Swanson et al, 2012). Ordinary least squares regressions were used to test the effects of MVPA on EF skills, including whether this association was moderated by ADHD behaviors, net of covariates (see Table 1). Preschool was entered as a fixed effect to account for the clustering of children in classrooms. To test the stability of these effects, PA and EF data were collected from children again approximately 3 months later and the analysis was replicated.

Child MVPA, ADHD behaviors, and covariates explained 33% of the observed variation in inhibitory control and working memory composites and 44% of the observation variation in the overall EF composite (see Table 1). There was no main effect of MVPA on any of the EF composites; however, the interaction between MVPA x ADHD symptoms on WM was significant (β=0.33, p= 0.01; see Table 1). The conditional associations of MVPA and WM are depicted in Figure 1. MVPA was positively associated with WM among children with low (β=0.32, p= 0.02) but not high (β=-0.16, p=0.32) levels of ADHD. The replicated analysis showed a similar effect of MVPA on WM for children with low levels of ADHD (MVPA: β=0.26, p=0.05). These results are based on the first cohort of children and will be updated to include the second cohort of children (minimum N = 160) prior to the SRCD conference.

These analyses may have implications for educational practice. Efforts to increase MVPA among preschool-aged children have been proposed as a means of improving EF skills, especially for children at-risk for ADHD (e.g., Halperin, Bedard, & Churchack-Lichtin 2002). Our results do not provide support for these proposals. More generally, these results underscore the need for more systematic research on potential associations between MVPA and EF skill development in early childhood. The downward extension of results from adult studies to early childhood may not be warranted.

Authors

• Amanda Catherine Wylie, Research Triangle Institute International
  Presenting Author

• Amanda M. Jones, RTI International
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michael T Willoughby, RTI International
  Non-Presenting Author