Sedentary behaviours and their relationship with academic performance in adolescents: A mediation analysis

ABSTRACT

The present research aims to examine the relationship between the four dimensions of sedentary behaviours and academic performance, as well as to test the association between sedentary behaviours and academic performance in boys and girls in a sample of Spanish adolescents. A total of 2,216 adolescents aged 11 to 16 years old, both males (13.30 ± 0.92) and females (13.06 ± 0.86), participated. Sleep duration, physical activity, and sedentary behaviours were measured through questionnaires. Academic performance was assessed with students´ marks. Potential confounders such as sex, age, socioeconomic status, and cardiorespiratory fitness were also measured. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, analysis of differences, and multiple mediation analysis were conducted. It was observed that girls spend more time on sedentary educational or social behaviours, while boys spend much more time on screen time. Sedentary behaviours such as educational time, screen time, and relaxing time were associated with academic performance. Specifically, educational time appears to be positively related to academic performance. Nevertheless, screen time and relaxing time were negatively associated with academic performance. The multiple mediation analysis revealed that screen time was the most negative behaviour on academic performance. The outcomes are discussed to improve knowledge about sedentary behaviours and academic performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic performance
• adolescents
• cognitive achievement
• sedentary behaviour

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the schools, children and their parents who generously volunteered to participate in the study. We also acknowledge all the staff members involved in the fieldwork for their efforts and great enthusiasm.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study has been funded by the European Community and the Ministry of Economy of Extremadura (IB16193). We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructures and European Community. M.A.T-S is supported by the Junta de Extremadura (PD18015) and European Social Fund (FSE). In addition, this research has been funded by the FEDER, the FSE and the Junta de Extremadura, with grant numbers GR21124; Govern of Extremadura.