Associations of screen time and physical activity with motor control, mood, and cognitive states in adolescents following acute high-intensity interval training

Abstract

Excessive screen time and insufficient physical activity are increasingly common among adolescents and have been linked to adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. This school-based cross-sectional study examined associations between sedentary screen time, physical activity frequency, and motor control performance in adolescents, and explored acute psychophysiological responses to a single bout of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). A total of 366 adolescents (mean age = 14.52 ± 1.21 years) were categorized into low-, moderate-, or high-screen-time groups and classified as physically active or inactive based on self-reported behavior. Participants completed standardized assessments of balance, coordination, neuromuscular speed, and reaction time. All participants then undertook an 8-minute HIIT session, with pre- and post-exercise measures of heart rate recovery, perceived exertion, and self-reported mood and cognitive states. Higher daily screen time was significantly associated with poorer motor control performance across multiple domains ( p < 0.001), whereas greater frequency of physical activity was independently associated with better motor control performance (B = 1.45, 95% CI 0.88–2.02, p < 0.001). Physically active adolescents demonstrated superior heart rate recovery, lower perceived exertion, and more favorable post-exercise profiles of fatigue and alertness compared with inactive peers. The HIIT session elicited significant acute improvements in energy, alertness, motivation, and cognitive focus, alongside reductions in fatigue and tension (all p < 0.001). These findings indicate that greater sedentary screen time is associated with poorer motor control performance in adolescents and suggest that brief, school-feasible physical activity strategies warrant further investigation as potential approaches to support physical and psychological health. Given the cross-sectional design, these associations should not be interpreted as evidence of causality.