Investigating the causal pathways of physical activity on cognitive and mental health

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Physical activity has positive effects on cognitive and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents. However, it is poorly understood how these effects differ across development and through which pathways and mechanisms they are conveyed. Gaining this knowledge is crucial in order to inform the design of effective interventions that improve young people's cognition and mental health through physical activity. This research proposal aims to investigate the influence of physical activity on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents over time to reveal the direction and order of effects. The study will seek to answer to what extent the positive effects of physical activity on mental health are mediated via improved cognitive function, and vice versa. To address the research questions this study will employ the longitudinal Millennium Cohort Study that includes measures of child and adolescent mental health (SDQ), cognitive and neuropsychological assessments, including executive function tasks, and accelerometer data of physical activity. Mechanistic clues from this study can inform the choice of follow-up studies. If the initial study can answer the research questions, a pilot study within the OxWell school network will be performed to further address the mechanisms involved. This study will explore to what extent physical activity may protect against certain adverse life events. Alternatively, a short longitudinal observational study within the OxWell school network will be conducted. In this study cohorts with high versus low amount of physical education in the curriculum will be followed from the start of year 7 after having transitioned from primary schools. Cognitive and mental health measures at 3-monthly intervals will be used to test the directionality and order of effects. Moderation and mediation models, and potentially structural equation modelling, will be used to quantify the relationships. The insights of this DPhil may provide novel understanding of the underlying causal pathways to why physical activity can protect and improve young people's mental health.