Public Health · Pediatrics · 3 h ago
Cognitively engaging PE improved peer-relationship scores in an adolescent trial
A cluster randomized trial in 650 students from three urban high schools in eastern China compared 12 weeks of cognitively engaging physical activity (CEPA) with traditional physical education. CEPA was associated with higher post-test peer-relationship scores, while proposed pathways through executive function and cognitive reappraisal were not statistically established.
- CEPA produced a 4.39-point higher peer-relationship score.
- The cluster trial enrolled 650 students in 12 classes.
- Executive-function and reappraisal differences were not statistically significant.
- Exploratory mediation results did not establish pathways.
Researchers randomly assigned 12 classes of grade 10 and 11 students at three urban public high schools in eastern China to CEPA or traditional physical education. The two curricula were delivered three times weekly for 12 weeks, with six classes per group. The primary outcome was the post-test total peer-relationship score; executive function and cognitive reappraisal were secondary outcomes. The cluster randomized trial enrolled 650 students, and 612 (94.2%) completed post-testing.
Compared with traditional physical education, CEPA was associated with a 4.39-point higher peer-relationship score (95% CI, 0.64 to 8.13; effect size d=0.38; p=0.029). Differences in executive function and cognitive reappraisal did not reach statistical significance after correction for multiple comparisons. Exploratory mediation estimates were positive, but their confidence intervals included zero.
The findings suggest a potential benefit of incorporating cognitively engaging activities into school physical education, but the trial involved students in three urban schools in one region and measured a score-based outcome. The proposed mechanisms remain uncertain, and the trial was retrospectively registered. The authors reported no specific funding and no competing interests.
In practice
For adolescents in grades 10 and 11 at urban public high schools, a 12-week cognitively engaging physical-activity curriculum was associated with better post-test peer-relationship scores than traditional physical education in this cluster randomized trial. The difference was modest (4.39 points; d=0.38), and executive function and cognitive reappraisal did not show statistically significant between-group differences; exploratory mediation did not establish a mechanism. The result may inform school-program evaluation, but evidence from three schools in eastern China does not establish broader applicability or justify a clinical-care change.
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BMC Public Health: Effects of cognitively engaging physical activity on peer relationships among adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial exploring the roles of executive function and cognitive reappraisal ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.