Examining the associations of self-control with physical fitness, cardiometabolic health, and well-being in young people aged 9–13 years

Dunn, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3226-1734, Williams, RA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1346-7756, Dring, KJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9647-3579, Cooper, SB ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5219-5020 and Boat, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4897-8118, 2026. Examining the associations of self-control with physical fitness, cardiometabolic health, and well-being in young people aged 9–13 years. Frontiers in Cognition, 5: 1755134. ISSN 2813-4532

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Abstract

Background: Previous research has demonstrated that high self-control is associated with cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity in young people. However, the associations of self-control with objective health measures (blood pressure, blood glucose, and plasma insulin), different components of physical fitness (motor and musculoskeletal fitness), motor competence and well-being remain largely unexplored.

Methods: Utilizing a cross-sectional design, 149 young people (aged 9–13 years) from the East Midlands, England completed measures of self-control, physical fitness, adiposity, well-being, motor competence, and cardiometabolic health. Univariate Pearson correlations, best-subset regression and simple linear regression analyses were conducted.

Results: High self-control was associated with better well-being (r = 0.43, p < 0.001) and higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (r = 0.21, p = 0.012), musculoskeletal fitness (r = 0.19, p = 0.020), and motor fitness (r = 0.23, p = 0.004). Best subset regression modeling identified the combination of predictors that best explained the variance in self-control, which included well-being, physical fitness (time on 4 x 10 m shuttle run), and HOMA-IR, with these effects independent of each other. Each individual component of well-being (physical well-being; p < 0.001, psychological well-being; p < 0.001, autonomy and parents; p < 0.001, and school environment; p < 0.001) was positively associated with self-control.

Conclusions: The present study's findings support the notion that self-control could be a significant and attractive target for future interventions focused at encouraging healthy behaviors in young people, and ultimately enhancing well being.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Frontiers in Cognition
Creators:	Dunn, A., Williams, R.A., Dring, K.J., Cooper, S.B. and Boat, R.
Publisher:	Frontiers Media SA
Date:	1 April 2026
Volume:	5
ISSN:	2813-4532
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3389/fcogn.2026.1755134 DOI 2602631 Other
Rights:	© 2026 Dunn, Williams, Dring, Cooper and Boat. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	14 Apr 2026 13:41
Last Modified:	14 Apr 2026 13:41
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55551

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