The association of physical activity duration and intensity on emotional intelligence in 10-13 year-old Children

Previous studies have shown that Physical Activity (PA) has a positive association with emotional health and intelligence in adolescents but none have focused on the relationship of PA duration and intensity on Emotional Intelligence (EI). The purpose of this study was to cross-sectionally assess the association of PA measures on overall EI and its domains in a cohort of 2 029 adolescents aged 10-13 years of age in the National Longitudinal Survey for Children and Youth (NLSCY) from Canada. Multivariable linear regression analysis of EI was adjusted for age, sex, annual household income, and health status. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to relate PA duration measured in minutes, frequency, and intensity categories with continuous GEI scores and also the corresponding scores for domains of GEI. The mean GEI scores were (28.3 ​± ​6.6) for 0-30 ​minute (min) PA duration, (30.0 ​± ​6.5) for 30 to ​< ​60 ​min, (30.8 ​± ​6.7) for 60-120 ​min, and (30.1 ​± ​6.5) for ≥ 121 ​min. There was a statistically significant linear trend across PA duration categories, p ​= ​0.000 4. Post-hoc pairwise comparison revealed that compared to the referent category (< 30 ​min ​PA category) was statistically significantly lower GEI than each of the other two PA categories (30-59 ​min; and 60-120 ​min), both p-values < 0.01. Meeting World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for duration and vigorous intensity were positively associated with the higher overall EI and its domains except for Stress Management.