Can Moving More and Sitting Less Improve the Academic Engagement of Adolescents?- A Study Based on Junior High School Students in Shanghai, China

Zisu Wang; Kai Li; Shuangshuang Guo; Xili Wen; Ziyi He; Yujun Cai

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S427214

Can Moving More and Sitting Less Improve the Academic Engagement of Adolescents?- A Study Based on Junior High School Students in Shanghai, China

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2023 Oct 16:16:4155-4168. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S427214. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zisu Wang¹, Kai Li¹, Shuangshuang Guo², Xili Wen¹, Ziyi He¹, Yujun Cai¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
² Physical education Group, High school Attached to Shanghai Normal University Minhang Campus, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between academic engagement and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), muscle-strengthening exercise (MSE) and sedentary behavior (SB) among adolescents, so as to provide evidence from the perspective of exercising for students to learn efficiently, teachers to improve classroom teaching, and schools to improve educational quality.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted in 12 junior high schools in Shanghai, China, which were selected by a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method. Then, with the valid data of 2078 students collected from the survey. A data analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics 26.0. Multiple linear regression models were adopted to analyze the factors affecting adolescent academic engagement and to determine whether MVPA, MSE, and SB play roles in it.

Results: (1) The differences in academic engagement depended on the exercise adherence to the recommended amount of MVPA, MSE, and screen-based SB. (2) In terms of the three independent variables of total time, MSE (β = 0.206) and MVPA (β = 0.175) showed a significant positive correlation with academic engagement, while SB (β = -0.155) was negatively correlated with academic engagement. (3) From the linear regression model of eight combination groups divided by the exercise adherence to the recommended amount of MVPA, MSE and SB, the group that met none of the recommendations (β = -0.235) showed a significant negative effect on academic engagement, while the groups that met any two or all three of the recommendations demonstrated strong positive correlations with academic engagement (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Increasing adolescents' muscle-strengthening exercise and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior can effectively promote academic engagement. Therefore, adolescents are suggested to reach the recommended amounts of physical activity, muscle-strengthening exercise, and sedentary behavior so as to improve academic engagement more effectively.

Keywords: academic engagement; moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; muscle-strengthening exercise; sedentary behaviors.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the 2020 Shanghai Educational Science Research Project (the Second Batch), Research on the Teaching Model of Higher Education Goal-Oriented Sports Skills: Taking Shanghai as an Example, project approval number: C2-2020029; and the 2021 Shanghai Local Institutions Capacity Building Project-Research on Key Technologies of Science and Technology to Assist Shanghai Competitive Gymnasts’ Athletic Performance Enhancement (21010503700).