38. Executive functioning task performance is related to amount of time spent participating in open vs closed skill sports
Abstract
Abstract Purpose Involvement in physical activity has been related to improvements in executive functioning (EF) across the child and adolescent development range and a variety of sport and physical activities. This study examined whether type of sport (open, closed) had a differential impact on changes in EF functioning over time in youth. Method Children aged 9-10 at baseline (M = 9.92, 52.2% male) completed interviews and neuropsychological tasks through the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (N = 10,595). Parents completed a measure of sports involvement yearly, and children underwent cognitive testing every two years. Sports were classified into open (i.e., dynamic, requiring adaptation, e.g., soccer, football) and closed skills sports (i.e., routine, e.g., running, swimming) and the amount of time spent participating in each was calculated. Longitudinal analyses of performance on measures of EF were conducted as they related to type of sports involvement. Results Sports participation in both open and closed skills sports was related to improvements on measures of reaction time (open: b = 21.161, SE = 4.253, p > 0.001; closed: b = 9.973, SE = 4.310, p = 0.046) and visuospatial processing accuracy (open: b = 0.479, SE = 0.158, p = 0.003; closed: b = 0.323, SE = 0.1612 p = 0.046). Closed skills sports participation was related to improvements in working memory (b = 0.230, SE = 0.113, p = 0.083). Sports participation interacted with age such that that for closed sports there was an increased rate of improvement as participants aged on inhibition (b = 0.011, SE = 0.005, p = 0.041) and working memory tasks (b = 0.011, SE = 0.005, p = 0.042), whereas for open sports there was an increased rate of improvement on tasks of verbal memory (trend-level-b= 0.008, SE = 0.005, p = 0.079) and visuospatial accuracy (b < 0.001, SE < 0.001, p = 0.04). Conclusions Type of sports participation was differentially related to improvements across EF domains and impacted the trajectory of development as children aged. This suggests particular sports may help children develop specific skills over time.