ArticlePloS one2017
Disentangling the relationship between children's motor ability, executive function and academic achievement.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 159 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations Between Motor Competence and Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- Long term effects of physical activity types on executive functions in school aged children.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Usability and Effects of a Combined Physical and Cognitive Intervention Based on Active Video Games for Preschool Children.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Relationships Among Activity, Motor Skill Performance and Executive Function in Preschool Children: Observational Report.Child: care, health and development · 2026Observational
- The effect of physical activity on homework effort of middle school students: the chain mediating effect of executive function and positive homework emotions.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Fine motor skills at preschool age and later academic skills: an indirect-effects analysis involving executive function in high-altitude Tibetan preschoolers.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Gross Motor Proficiency and Reading Abilities Among Chinese Primary School Students.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Timed and untimed writing and math: shared and differential cognitive predictors in primary school.Child neuropsychology : a journal on normal and abnormal development in childhood and adolescence · 2025Article
- Active Breaks Enhance Complex Processing Speed, Math Performance, and Physical Activity in Primary School Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Interrelationship of Preschoolers' Gross Motor Skills, Digital Game Addiction Tendency, and Parents' Parenting Styles.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Breaking barriers: challenging the notion of a strong link between physical fitness and executive functions in 10-year-olds.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Sex Differences in Gross Motor Competence in Italian Children Aged 3-11 Years: A Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- The Impact of Physical Activity and Screen Time on Motor Creativity in Kindergarteners.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Relation between motor competence and academic achievement: The mediating role of fitness and cognition in boys and girls.PloS one · 2025Article
- Fundamental motor skills, executive functions, and academic achievement of Chinese schoolchildren: Testing a mediating model.PloS one · 2025Article
- Physical and cognitive characteristics of a group exercise program for children treated for brain tumors.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2025Article
- Quantifying spontaneous infant movements using state-space models.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Relationships between Motor Skills and Academic Achievement in School-Aged Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Associations between Gross and Fine Motor Skills, Physical Activity, Executive Function, and Academic Achievement: Longitudinal Findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.Brain sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Even though positive relations between children's motor ability and their academic achievement are frequently reported, the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Executive function has indeed been proposed, but hardly tested as a potential mediator. The aim of the present study was therefore to examine the mediating role of executive function in the relationship between motor ability and academic achievement, also investigating the individual contribution of specific motor abilities to the hypothesized mediated linkage to academic achievement. At intervals of ten weeks, 236 children aged between 10 and 12 years were tested in terms of their motor ability (t1: cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, motor coordination), core executive functions (t2: updating, inhibition, shifting), and academic achievement (t3: mathematics, reading, spelling). Structural equation modelling revealed executive function to be a mediator in the relation between motor ability and academic achievement, represented by a significant indirect effect. In separate analyses, each of the three motor abilities were positively related to children's academic achievement. However, only in the case of children's motor coordination, the mediation by executive function accounted for a significance percentage of variance of academic achievement data. The results provide evidence in support of models that conceive executive function as a mechanism explaining the relationship that links children's physical activity-related outcomes to academic achievement and strengthen the advocacy for quality physical activity not merely focused on health-related physical fitness outcomes, but also on motor skill development and learning.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.