Short breaks at school: effects of a physical activity and a mindfulness intervention on children's attention, reading comprehension, and self-esteem.
Trends Neurosci Educ 2021;
25:100160. [PMID:
34844692 DOI:
10.1016/j.tine.2021.100160]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Although breaks are essential to restoring cognitive and psychological conditions for learning, short breaks within school lessons are not established and the specificity of effects has not often been investigated. Therefore, the effects of a physical activity (Study 1) and a mindfulness intervention (Study 2) were investigated.
PROCEDURE
By an intervention-control group design, the effects of daily 10-min physical activity (Study 1: N = 162, 4th grade) and mindfulness breaks (Study 2: N = 79, 5th grade) were implemented within regular school lessons over a 2-week time period to research the impact on attention, reading comprehension, and self-esteem.
RESULTS
In the physical activity intervention children's attention improved (attention-processing speed: p < .004, ηp2 = .05, attention-performance: p < .025, ηp2 = .03), and in the mindfulness intervention reading comprehension improved (p < .012, ηp2 = .08) compared to the controls. Results further indicated that self-esteem moderated the relationship between groups and attention improvement in study 1.
CONCLUSION
Classroom-based short physical and mindfulness breaks could support attention and reading comprehension, which are known to support overall academic success.
Collapse