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Longitudinal associations between sedentary behavior types and mathematics ability mediated by externalizing and internalizing problems
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  • Published: 15 April 2026

Longitudinal associations between sedentary behavior types and mathematics ability mediated by externalizing and internalizing problems

  • Kaiqi Guan1,2,
  • Zhihao Zhang1,2,
  • Zijun Liu2,
  • Dominika M. Pindus3,4,5,
  • Charles H. Hillman6,7,8,
  • Qian Yu1,2,
  • Arthur F. Kramer3,
  • Jin Kuang1,
  • Kirk I. Erickson9,10,11,
  • Fabian Herold12,
  • Mats Hallgren13,
  • Matthew Heath14,15,16,
  • Ronghuan Jiang2,
  • André O. Werneck17,
  • Xia Xu1 &
  • …
  • Liye Zou1,2 

npj Science of Learning , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Health care
  • Psychology
  • Risk factors

Abstract

This study examined the associations between sedentary behavior (SB) at age 11 and mathematics ability at age 17, and assessed the mediating effect of internalizing and externalizing problems at age 14, using UK Millennium Cohort Study data (N = 3622; 53% male). Self-reported frequency of SB (listening to music, Internet use, reading, and playing games) and parental-reported SB duration (time spent on TV viewing and doing homework) were collected at age 11. Behavioral issues were assessed at age 14 via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Mathematics ability was examined at age 17 using the Number Analogies Activity Task. Negative binomial regression and mediation analysis (med4way in Stata) were applied. Among female adolescents, reading, doing homework, and using the Internet were positively associated with mathematics ability. For males, TV viewing was negatively associated with mathematics ability, mediated by internalizing problems. Findings suggest that in children sex-dependent association between SB characteristics and mathematical abilities exists, implying that future initiatives targeting SB may consider leveraging sex-specific interventions.

Data availability

Data are available in a public, open-access repository, https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/series.

Code availability

Custom-written code is available upon request by contacting the corresponding author, liyezou@whsu.edu.cn (LYZ).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participating families from the Millennium Cohort Study for their effort and time, and the Center for Longitudinal Studies (CLS), UCL Social Research Institute, for the use of these data, and to the UK Data Service for making them available. Funding: not applicable.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Body-Brain-Mind Laboratory, School of Psychology, Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, China

    Kaiqi Guan, Zhihao Zhang, Qian Yu, Jin Kuang, Xia Xu & Liye Zou

  2. School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

    Kaiqi Guan, Zhihao Zhang, Zijun Liu, Qian Yu, Ronghuan Jiang & Liye Zou

  3. Beckman Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Dominika M. Pindus & Arthur F. Kramer

  4. Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

    Dominika M. Pindus

  5. Institute of Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

    Dominika M. Pindus

  6. Institute for Cognitive and Brain Health, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Charles H. Hillman

  7. Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Charles H. Hillman

  8. Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Charles H. Hillman

  9. Advent Health Research Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Advent Health, Orlando, FL, USA

    Kirk I. Erickson

  10. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Kirk I. Erickson

  11. Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Kirk I. Erickson

  12. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, HMU Health and Medical University Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany

    Fabian Herold

  13. Epidemiology of Psychiatric Conditions, Substance Use and Social Environment (EPiCSS), Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden

    Mats Hallgren

  14. Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Matthew Heath

  15. Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Matthew Heath

  16. Research Group Degenerative and Chronic Diseases, Movement, Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Matthew Heath

  17. Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil

    André O. Werneck

Authors
  1. Kaiqi Guan
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  2. Zhihao Zhang
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  3. Zijun Liu
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  4. Dominika M. Pindus
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  5. Charles H. Hillman
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  6. Qian Yu
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  7. Arthur F. Kramer
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  8. Jin Kuang
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  9. Kirk I. Erickson
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  10. Fabian Herold
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  11. Mats Hallgren
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  12. Matthew Heath
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  13. Ronghuan Jiang
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  14. André O. Werneck
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  15. Xia Xu
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  16. Liye Zou
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Contributions

KQG: Conceptualization; Methodology; Formal analysis; Data curation; Writing – original draft; Visualization; Writing – review & editing. ZHZ: Data curation; Validation; Writing – original draft; Writing – review & editing. ZJL: Methodology; Writing – review & editing. DMP: Writing – review & editing; Supervision. CHH: Writing – review & editing; Supervision. QY: Data curation; Investigation; Writing – review & editing. AFK: Writing – review & editing; Supervision. JK: Writing – review & editing; Project administration. KIE: Writing – review & editing; Supervision. FH: Writing – review & editing; Validation. MH: Writing – review & editing; Validation. MH: Writing – review & editing; Validation. RHJ: Data curation; Writing – review & editing. AOW: Conceptualization; Methodology; Data curation; Writing – review & editing. XX: Supervision; Writing – review & editing. LYZ: Conceptualization; Methodology; Supervision; Writing – review & editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liye Zou.

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Guan, K., Zhang, Z., Liu, Z. et al. Longitudinal associations between sedentary behavior types and mathematics ability mediated by externalizing and internalizing problems. npj Sci. Learn. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00424-8

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  • Received: 26 November 2025

  • Accepted: 02 April 2026

  • Published: 15 April 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00424-8

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Effects of lifestyle behaviours on learning and neuroplasticity

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