Effect of an acute bout of exercise on executive function and sleep in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder

Walters, GW ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9226-4473, Taylor, S, Sweeney, EL ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6946-2989, Cooper, SB ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5219-5020, Williams, RA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1346-7756 and Dring, KJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9647-3579, 2024. Effect of an acute bout of exercise on executive function and sleep in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 27: 100624. ISSN 1755-2966

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Abstract

Background and aims: The present study aimed to examine the effect of an acute bout of circuit-base exercise on executive function, visual perception and sleep parameters in neurodiverse children.

Methods: After familiarisation, 34 children (4 female) with ADHD and/or ASD completed two trials (30-min circuit-based exercise (E) or a rested control (C) trial) in a randomised, counterbalanced, crossover design. Participants completed cognitive function tests (Stroop test, Sternberg Paradigm and Visual Search Test) at baseline, immediately post-exercise, and the morning after exercise. Participants were provided with a wrist actigraph to wear overnight to determine sleep duration, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, and sleep latency. Statistical analyses were conducted via ANCOVA, with diagnosis included as a covariate.

Results: Accuracy on the Stroop test (complex level) was better maintained following circuit-based exercise when compared with rest immediately post-exercise (E: 1.88% decreased accuracy; C: 4.73% decreased accuracy, p = 0.009), and on day two (E: 1.22% increased accuracy; C: 6.37% decreased accuracy; p < 0.001). Accuracy on the Sternberg Paradigm (5-item level) was improved immediately post-exercise on the exercise trial when compared with rest (E: 0.37% decreased accuracy; C: 7.29% decreased accuracy; p = 0.011). Improvements in accuracy across both tests were at the expense of response time, which was slower on the exercise trial (all p < 0.05). Sleep parameters did not differ across trials (all p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Moderate intensity circuit-based exercise is an ecologically valid exercise modality that, acutely, improves executive function (compared to rest), which may alleviate the impaired executive function in children with ADHD and ASD.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Mental Health and Physical Activity
Creators:	Walters, G.W., Taylor, S., Sweeney, E.L., Cooper, S.B., Williams, R.A. and Dring, K.J.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	October 2024
Volume:	27
ISSN:	1755-2966
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.mhpa.2024.100624 DOI S1755296624000504 Publisher Item Identifier 2202647 Other
Rights:	This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	02 Sep 2024 07:44
Last Modified:	02 Sep 2024 07:44
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52145

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