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STUDY PROTOCOL article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Movement Science
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1451731

"Effects of active breaks on educational achievement in children with and without ADHD: study protocol and rationale of the Break4Brain Project" Authors

Provisionally accepted
Diego Arenas Diego Arenas 1Mirando Bodi-Torralba Mirando Bodi-Torralba 1Andrea Oliver Andrea Oliver 1Jaume Cantallops Jaume Cantallops 1F.Javier P. Verdaguer F.Javier P. Verdaguer 1Pere Palou Sampol Pere Palou Sampol 1Juan Ángel Collado Juan Ángel Collado 2Isabel Flórez Isabel Flórez 3Alex Galvez-Pol Alex Galvez-Pol 1Juan L. Terrasa Juan L. Terrasa 1Carolina Sitges Carolina Sitges 1Victor A. Sanchez-Azanza Victor A. Sanchez-Azanza 1Raul Lopez Raul Lopez 1Daniel Adrover-Roig Daniel Adrover-Roig 1Adrià Muntaner-Mas Adrià Muntaner-Mas 1*
  • 1 University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  • 2 Valencian International University, Castelló de la Plana, Valencia, Spain
  • 3 Hospital Universitario Son Espases, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Break4Brain project aims to elucidate the effects of both acute and chronic physical activity (PA) on academic achievement in children with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This study will be conducted in two phases: a crossover design followed by a hybrid type 1 implementation-effectiveness trial, which includes both a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) and a qualitative study. In phase I, 60 children aged 10-12, with 30 each from ADHD and non-ADHD groups, will participate in a laboratory-based study over four days within one month. They will participate in three counterbalanced experimental conditions: (i) PA with cognitive engagement, (ii) PA without cognitive engagement, and (iii) a cognitively engaging control. This phase will assess changes in brain function, academic performance, working memory, inhibitory control, and sustained attention. Phase II will involve 600 children aged 10-12, randomly assigned to either a video-based PA program or a control group (300 children per group) in an 8-week cluster RCT. This phase will also incorporate a qualitative approach to explore the implementation context through pre-and postintervention semi-structured interviews with teachers and school staff, and questionnaires for students. The outcomes of interest in this phase will include working memory, cognitive flexibility, selective attention, and academic performance. For the cross-over study, we hypothesize that PA conditions will enhance the studied outcomes compared to the control condition. In the RCT, we anticipate that the 8-week active break program will result in significant improvements in the selected outcomes compared to the control group. This study is expected to make pioneering contributions by including novel variables and focusing on the ADHD population. Furthermore, if the cluster RCT proves

    Keywords: cross-over, Cluster randomized controlled trial, Physically active lessons, Active classroom, EEG, Cognition, Academic performace, School

    Received: 27 Jun 2024; Accepted: 23 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Arenas, Bodi-Torralba, Oliver, Cantallops, Verdaguer, Palou Sampol, Collado, Flórez, Galvez-Pol, Terrasa, Sitges, Sanchez-Azanza, Lopez, Adrover-Roig and Muntaner-Mas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Adrià Muntaner-Mas, University of the Balearic Islands, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

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