Associations between organised sport participation and classroom behaviour outcomes among primary school-aged children

• Published in: PloS one 2019-01, Vol.14 (1), p.e0209354-e0209354
• Main Authors: Watson, Amanda, Timperio, Anna, Brown, Helen, Hinkley, Trina, Hesketh, Kylie D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Accelerometers; Analysis; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Child; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child Behavior; Children; Children & youth; Classrooms; Clustering; Cognitive ability; Cohort Studies; Elementary school students; Engineering and Technology; Exercise; Exercise - psychology; Female; Gender aspects; Humans; Hyperactivity; Male; Mathematics; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Nutrition; Parents; Participation; Pediatric research; Pediatrics; People and Places; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Physiological aspects; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Schools; Sex; Sex differences; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic Factors; Sports; Sports - psychology; Students - psychology; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Team sports; Victoria
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209354

Physical activity is positively associated with children's classroom behaviour. However, less is known about how different types of physical activity contribute to these outcomes. This study examines associations between sport participation and classroom behaviour among primary school-aged children. Parents of 568 children aged 9-11 years reported child sport participation and classroom behaviour outcomes (school functioning, inattention, classroom behaviour (fidgetiness), acting without thinking and poor concentration). Sport participation included: duration (hours/week) and type (individual; team; team and individual). Regression analyses assessed associations between sport participation and classroom behaviour outcomes. Analyses adjusted for maternal education, and objectively-measured overall physical activity, and accounted for clustering by recruitment centre. Sex differences in associations were explored as a secondary aim. In comparison to children who did not participate in sport, children who participated in sport displayed less inattention/hyperactivity (individual sport: B = -1.00;95%CI:-1.90, -0.00; team sport:-0.88;95%CI:-1.73, -0.03) and less acting without thinking (individual sport: OR = 0.35;95%CI:0.13,0.98), after adjusting for overall physical activity. There were no sex differences in associations. Findings indicated sport participation, one form of physical activity, was associated with less inattention/hyperactivity and acting without thinking, over and above the influence of overall physical activity levels. Parents may consider sport as one way to contribute to their child's overall physical activity levels, although the impact of organised sport on classroom behaviour is modest at best.