Association Between 24-h Movement Behavior, Physical Fitness, and Inhibitory Control in School Adolescents: A Complex Network Analysis

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the interrelationships between 24-h movement behaviors, health-related physical fitness, and inhibitory control performance in adolescents.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 216 Brazilian adolescents (aged 16.7 ± 1.2 years) from a federal public school. Movement behaviors—moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), smartphone screen time, sleep duration, and excessive daytime sleepiness—were assessed using the Global School-based Student Health Survey, digital well-being tools, and the Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale. Aerobic capacity was measured using the PACER test, muscular strength by the FitnessGram push-up test, and body composition through body mass index. Inhibitory control was assessed using the Flanker task (E-Prime v3.0). Separate network analyses were performed for congruent and incongruent reaction times (RT).

Results

Physically active adolescents had faster RTs than their insufficiently active peers, with physical activity negatively associated with RT in both the congruent (−0.116) and incongruent (−0.125) networks. Aerobic capacity (e.g., expected influence: 0.879–0.902) and muscular strength (expected influence: 1.360–1.384) appeared as central components in both network structures. However, no associations were found between sleep duration, screen time, or excessive daytime sleepiness and inhibitory control.

Conclusions

Adherence to MVPA guidelines was directly associated with improved inhibitory control performance among adolescents. Health-related physical fitness, particularly aerobic capacity and muscular strength, was indirectly associated with inhibitory control. Other movement behaviors were not associated with cognitive performance in this sample.