Mental health mediates the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and academic performance in European schoolchildren.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the potential mediating role of mental health in the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and academic performance in European schoolchildren.

Method: The study followed a cross-sectional design. 507 schoolchildren (51.5 % girls, 7.4 ± 0.4 years) from 20 schools in five European countries were included in the analyses. Academic performance was assessed using school grades, mental health was assessed through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for parents, and CRF was estimated through the multistage 20-m shuttle run test. Linear regression and mediation analyses were conducted to test these hypotheses.

Results: Mental health difficulties were associated with worse performance on academic indicators (β ranging from -0.121 to -0.324, p < 0.05). Further, mental health difficulties were associated with lower CRF (β ranging from -0.121 to -0.189, p < 0.05). Mediation analyses revealed that the association between CRF and academic performance indicators was partially mediated (from 8 % to 25 %) by mental health [except for conduct and peer problems (β ranging from -0.025 to -0.080, p > 0.05).

Conclusion: The present results highlight that mental health is a possible mediator in the association between CRF and academic performance. These findings might support the importance of improving CRF levels to reduce mental health difficulties with subsequent potential benefits on academic performance.