Your Therapy Source Magazine for Pediatric Therapists February 2016 | Page 6

Physical Activity, Affect and Executive
Functioning in Boys with ADHD

The Journal of Attention Disorders published research on two studies to investigate the role of
physical activity on the affect and executive functioning of children with symptoms of ADHD.
One study explored the association between physical activity and affect in the daily lives of
children with varying degrees of hyperactivity. The second study randomly assigned children
with ADHD a physical activity or a sedentary task before working on a executive function task.
The results indicated the following:
1. Lack of physical activity was shown to relate to depressed affect, more strongly in
participants with severe hyperactivity symptoms.
2. The physically active participants showed improved executive functioning after only 5 min
of vigorous activity; the sedentary control participants showed no improvement.
The researchers concluded that increasing the level of physical activity in children with and
without ADHD might improve affect and executive functioning.
Reference: Caterina Gawrilow, Gertraud Stadler, Nadine Langguth, Alexander Naumann, and
Antje Boeck. Physical Activity, Affect, and Cognition in Children With Symptoms of ADHD.
Journal of Attention Disorders. February 2016 20: 151-162, first published on July 26, 2013
doi:10.1177/1087054713493318

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