Could Physical Fitness Be Considered as a Protective Social Factor Associated with Bridging the Cognitive Gap Related to School Vulnerability in Adolescents? The Cogni-Action Project

Abstract

The first aim was to compare differences between school vulnerability groups, fitness levels, and their combination in adolescent cognitive performance. The second aim was to determine the mediation role of fitness in the association between school vulnerability and cognitive performance. A total of 912 Chilean adolescents aged 10–14 years participated in this study. The school vulnerability index (SVI) assigned by the Chilean Government was categorized into high-, mid-, or low-SVI. Adolescents were classified as fit or unfit according to their global fitness z-score computed from their cardiorespiratory (CRF), muscular (MF), and speed/agility fitness (SAF) adjusted for age and sex. A global cognitive score was estimated through eight tasks based on a neurocognitive battery. Covariance and mediation analyses were performed, adjusted for sex, schools, body mass index, and peak high velocity. Independent analyses showed that the higher SVI, the lower the cognitive performance (F(6,905) = 18.5; p < 0.001). Conversely, fit adolescents presented a higher cognitive performance than their unfit peers (F(5,906) = 8.93; p < 0.001). The combined analysis found cognitive differences between fit and unfit adolescents in both the high- and mid-SVI levels (Cohen’s d = 0.32). No differences were found between fit participants belonging to higher SVI groups and unfit participants belonging to lower SVI groups. Mediation percentages of 9.0%, 5.6%, 7.1%, and 2.8% were observed for the global fitness score, CRF, MF, and SAF, respectively. The mediation effect was significant between low- with mid-high-SVI levels but not between mid- and high-SVI levels. These findings suggest that an adequate physical fitness level should be deemed a protective social factor associated with bridging the cognitive gap linked to school vulnerability in adolescents. This favourable influence seems to be most significant in adolescents belonging to a more adverse social background.

Multimodal neuroimaging correlates of physical-cognitive covariation in Chilean adolescents. The Cogni-Action Project

“…The adolescents’ cognitive performance was evaluated through eight neurocognitive tasks from the NeuroCognitive Performance Test (NCPT) from Lumos Labs, Inc 40 . This battery included: “Trail Making A and B” assessing attention, cognitive flexibility, and processing speed; the “Forward Memory Span’’ and the “Reverse Memory Span” evaluating short-term visual memory and working memory; the “Go/No-Go” test, assessing inhibitory control and processing speed; the “Balance Scale,” indicating quantitative and analogical reasoning; the “Digit Symbol Coding,” evaluating processing speed; and finally, the “Progressive Matrices,” assessing problem-solving and reasoning/intelligence 17 . Each test was scaled following a normal inverse transformation of the percentile rank 40 .…”

“…Socioeconomic factors are crucial during brain development and have been associated with healthy behaviours, cognitive performance and academic achievements 17,[29][30][31] . We considered multiple measures of socioeconomic factors.…”

“…Although social determinants could modulate health-related behaviours and, in turn, brain, cognitive, and academic achievements in adolescents 17,20,21 , most literature in this area comes from developed countries, being practically non-existent in children and adolescents living in Latin America 22 . Chile is a particularly interesting case to study due to it progressively transitioning from low-to-middle to being a high-income country whilst retaining high inequality of income distribution (44.4%).…”

“…In addition, socioeconomic factors also play a critical relevant role not just in cognition and academic achievement, where greater deprivation is associated with worse outcomes, but also in brain development 15,16 . Nonetheless, health-related behaviours such as physical fitness and physical activity could be leveraged as behavioural drivers to mitigate long-term consequences of early life adversity (i.e., poverty) on brain health 16,17 . In this sense, developing countries and nations with high heterogeneity in income distribution present a significant challenge to reducing socioeconomic inequalities in health 18,19 .…”

Which one? A comparative study of traditional and sports uniforms on academic achievement, cognitive performance, playtime, bullying, and discrimination in adolescents: The Cogni-Action Project

“…In a highly unequal and hierarchical community such as Latin-American countries (14), promoting freedom of expression and reducing social gaps such as gender is a priority (15). However, wearing TU could limit self-expression (12) and could reduce engaging in physical activity, especially in girls (16), which further widens the gender gap at an early stage (17,18), increasing health inequalities (19) and affecting cognitive and educational goals (20).…”