Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis
School physical activity breaks are currently being proposed as a way to improve students’ learning. However, there is no clear evidence of the effects of active school breaks on academic-related cognitive outcomes. The present systematic review with meta-analysis scrutinized and synthesized the lit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/6/675 |
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| author | Álvaro Infantes-Paniagua Ana Filipa Silva Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo Hugo Sarmento Francisco Tomás González-Fernández Sixto González-Víllora Filipe Manuel Clemente |
| author_facet | Álvaro Infantes-Paniagua Ana Filipa Silva Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo Hugo Sarmento Francisco Tomás González-Fernández Sixto González-Víllora Filipe Manuel Clemente |
| author_sort | Álvaro Infantes-Paniagua |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | School physical activity breaks are currently being proposed as a way to improve students’ learning. However, there is no clear evidence of the effects of active school breaks on academic-related cognitive outcomes. The present systematic review with meta-analysis scrutinized and synthesized the literature related to the effects of active breaks on students’ attention. On January 12th, 2021, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science were searched for published interventions with counterbalanced cross-over or parallel-groups designs with a control group, including school-based active breaks, objective attentional outcomes, and healthy students of any age. Studies’ results were qualitatively synthesized, and meta-analyses were performed if at least three study groups provided pre-post data for the same measure. Results showed some positive acute and chronic effects of active breaks on attentional outcomes (i.e., accuracy, concentration, inhibition, and sustained attention), especially on selective attention. However, most of the results were not significant. The small number of included studies and their heterogeneous design are the primary limitations of the present study. Although the results do not clearly point out the positive effects of active breaks, they do not compromise students’ attention. The key roles of intensity and the leader of the active break are discussed. INPLASY registration number: 202110054. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:10:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-275f27fa0c41413cbfc88da7e4cd1f2b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:10:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-275f27fa0c41413cbfc88da7e4cd1f2b2023-11-21T20:50:31ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-05-0111667510.3390/brainsci11060675Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-AnalysisÁlvaro Infantes-Paniagua0Ana Filipa Silva1Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo2Hugo Sarmento3Francisco Tomás González-Fernández4Sixto González-Víllora5Filipe Manuel Clemente6Department of Physical Education, Arts Education, and Music, Faculty of Education of Albacete, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, SpainN2i, Polytechnic Institute of Maia, 4475-690 Maia, PortugalDepartment of Physical Activity Sciences, Universidad de Los Lagos, 8320000 Santiago, ChileUniversity of Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, PortugalCentro de Estudios Superiores Alberta Giménez, Department of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Pontifical University of Comillas, 07013 Palma, SpainDepartment of Physical Education, Arts Education, and Music, Faculty of Education of Cuenca, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 17071 Cuenca, SpainEscola Superior Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial de Nun’Álvares, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, PortugalSchool physical activity breaks are currently being proposed as a way to improve students’ learning. However, there is no clear evidence of the effects of active school breaks on academic-related cognitive outcomes. The present systematic review with meta-analysis scrutinized and synthesized the literature related to the effects of active breaks on students’ attention. On January 12th, 2021, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science were searched for published interventions with counterbalanced cross-over or parallel-groups designs with a control group, including school-based active breaks, objective attentional outcomes, and healthy students of any age. Studies’ results were qualitatively synthesized, and meta-analyses were performed if at least three study groups provided pre-post data for the same measure. Results showed some positive acute and chronic effects of active breaks on attentional outcomes (i.e., accuracy, concentration, inhibition, and sustained attention), especially on selective attention. However, most of the results were not significant. The small number of included studies and their heterogeneous design are the primary limitations of the present study. Although the results do not clearly point out the positive effects of active breaks, they do not compromise students’ attention. The key roles of intensity and the leader of the active break are discussed. INPLASY registration number: 202110054.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/6/675physical activityexerciseattentionattentional biasarousalrandomized controlled trials |
| spellingShingle | Álvaro Infantes-Paniagua Ana Filipa Silva Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo Hugo Sarmento Francisco Tomás González-Fernández Sixto González-Víllora Filipe Manuel Clemente Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis Brain Sciences physical activity exercise attention attentional bias arousal randomized controlled trials |
| title | Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis |
| title_full | Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis |
| title_short | Active School Breaks and Students’ Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis |
| title_sort | active school breaks and students attention a systematic review with meta analysis |
| topic | physical activity exercise attention attentional bias arousal randomized controlled trials |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/6/675 |
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