Effects of Brain Breaks on Educational Achievement in School Settings: The Break4Brain Project

Effects of Brain Breaks on Educational Achievement in Children With and Without ADHD: The Break4Brain Project

A total of 600 children between 10 and 12 years of age will be randomized among two experimental conditions: physical activity interacting with a video (n = 300), and sedentary activity (n = 300). The experimental condition will take place in the school settings during the school day through a between-subject design with a total of two measurements, pre, and post-test. Using the latest advances, the transient effects of the experimental conditions on cognitive and academic performance will be measured. The experimental condition was crafted through a qualitative design involving semi-structured interviews with teachers (n = 41) and members of the management team (n = 16), along with questionnaires administered to students (n = 600). To enhance and ensure its sustainability, the same process will be replicated after the intervention. Interviews and questionnaires were meticulously crafted by the RE-AIM framework, and subsequently validated through a rigorous process involving an expert panel (n = 30) utilizing the Delphi methodology. This project has the potential to substantially contribute to the field of acute physical activity and could have a meaningful transference on the educational system. This method might be prescribed as an effective teaching strategy.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Physical Activity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Physical activity interacting with a video

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 600
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Balearic Islands
    • Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain, 07122
      • University of the Balearic Islands

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 10-12 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children who have serious physical or mental disorders (autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and cerebral palsy) that would impede participation in the experimental conditions.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control condition
Experimental: Physical activity interacting with a video; This experimental condition involves engaging in physical activity interspersed with rest periods. The type of exercises are based on phase I.	Behavioral: Physical activity interacting with a video; This experimental condition will be implemented five times a week, once per day, over 8 weeks. It will follow a structured format, including seven consecutive 40-second blocks of physical activity. The total video duration will amount to 9 minutes (40 seconds of activity followed by 20 seconds of rest, maintaining a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio). Additionally, participants will engage in 5 minutes of warm-up exercises and 5 minutes of cool-down activities. The experimental condition will consist of 10 videos, each centered around one of five different themes (a different one will be administered every day).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Academic achievement	Only the general academic fluency index was administered, consisting of the reading, mathematics, and writing fluency subtests. Reading fluency assessed the participant's capacity to read simple sentences rapidly, mathematical fluency gauged the ability to quickly solve simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication problems, and writing fluency measured the skill to formulate and write sentences promptly.	8 weeks
Inhibition-attention and cognitive flexibility	The assessment of inhibition-attention and cognitive flexibility was conducted using the "Trail Making Test".	8 weeks
Working memory	The measurement of working memory through "The Digit Memory Test," specifically focusing on auditory attention and verbal memory.	8 weeks
Selective attention	The measurement of selective attention within a limited timeframe was carried out using the "D2 test."	8 weeks
Design of active breaks: semi-structured questionnaires	Pre- and post-intervention, to guarantee a proper design and future sustainability of the experimental condition, semi-structured questionnaires are administered to students. The responses are systematically categorized.	2 months (november and may)
Design of active breaks: semi-structured interviews	Pre- and post-intervention, to guarantee a proper design and future sustainability of the experimental condition, semi-structured interviews are administered to teachers and the management team. The responses are systematically categorized.	2 months (november and may)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Physical activity patterns	Physical activity patterns will be measured through accelerometry using the ActiGraph wGT3X-BT. Additionally, the intensity of the brain breaks will also be calculated with the same tool.	8 weeks
Self-report physical activity patterns	Physical activity levels over the preceding seven days were assessed using the PAQ-C.	8 weeks
Self-report sedentary patterns	Sedentary patterns over the preceding 7 days were assessed using the YAP-S.	8 weeks
Self-report physical fitness	The level of physical fitness was assessed using the self-administered IFIS questionnaire.	8 weeks
Socioeconomic level	The socioeconomic status was assessed through the Family Affluence Scale-II.	8 weeks
Student's behavior	The behavior of students in a regular classroom setting was examined using the "Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory", inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity parts, for teachers.	8 weeks
Body composition	Parents self-reported the body composition. In this case, parents will just report height (cm) and weight (kg).	8 weeks
Creativity	Participants were required to complete the maximum number of unusual uses for two objects within a 5-minute timeframe.	8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of the Balearic Islands
• Collaborators: European Regional Development Fund; Spanish State Research Agency; Ministry of Science and Innovation

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 8, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 2, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 12, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): March 20, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 20, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 12, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: exercise; executive functions; active breaks; academic performance
• Other Study ID Numbers: 348CER23

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No