Grinberg Adam, Hanzlíková Ivana, Lehnert Michal, Abdollahipour Reza
Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2024 Sep 18;16(1):195. doi: 10.1186/s13102-024-00984-5.
Non-contact injuries are highly prevalent among young athletes and occur particularly in situations that require fast decision making and divided attention. Administering relevant neurocognitive tests could help identify deficiencies in these cognitive abilities and thus potentially mitigate injury risk. However, processes such as selective attention and response inhibition might depend to some extent on the athlete's maturation stage. We aimed to examine the effect of maturation on selective visual attention and response inhibition among adolescent volleyball players.
In this cross-sectional study, 52 female adolescents (age 12.3 ± 2.1 years) performed an Eriksen Flankers task. Participants were divided into subgroups based on their estimated adult stature, using the Khamis & Roche method: Pre-pubertal (PRE; n = 13, age: 9.9 ± 1.3), early-puberty (EPUB; n = 7, age: 10.5 ± 0.6), mid-puberty (MPUB; n = 8, age: 12.6 ± 0.8) and late puberty (LPUB; n = 24, age: 14.1 ± 0.9). Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were performed on congruent and incongruent reaction times (RT), with corresponding success rates (% correct responses) as covariate. Flanker interference effect was tested using ANOVA. Correlations were further examined between the dependent variables and participants' chronological age.
There was a significant group effect, with PRE demonstrating longer RT compared with LPUB (P < 0.001) for both congruent and incongruent RT. Moderate negative correlations were observed between age and RT (R= -0.695, R= -0.614 for congruent and incongruent RT, respectively) and low positive correlations between age and incongruent success rate (R= 0.318). Low to moderate correlations were also observed within the LPUB group for RT (R= -0.431--0.532) and success rate (negative R= -574 for congruent and positive R= 0.417 for incongruent). There were no group differences nor age associations with interference effect.
Our findings indicate that information processing and selective visual attention are superior at late maturation compared with early maturation among female adolescents. The same cannot be said for response inhibition, which did not differ between maturation groups. Similar tendencies were observed with regards to chronological age, but not entirely explained by it. Maturation level, rather than chronological age, should guide practitioners during sport participation and injury prevention programs for young athletes, whose neurocognitive abilities are not yet fully developed, placing them at risk for non-contact injuries.
非接触性损伤在年轻运动员中非常普遍，尤其发生在需要快速决策和分散注意力的情况下。进行相关的神经认知测试有助于识别这些认知能力的缺陷，从而有可能降低受伤风险。然而，诸如选择性注意和反应抑制等过程可能在一定程度上取决于运动员的成熟阶段。我们旨在研究成熟度对青少年排球运动员选择性视觉注意和反应抑制的影响。
在这项横断面研究中，52名女性青少年（年龄12.3±2.1岁）完成了一项埃里克森侧翼任务。使用卡米斯和罗氏方法根据参与者估计的成人身高将其分为亚组：青春期前（PRE；n = 13，年龄：9.9±1.3）、青春期早期（EPUB；n = 7，年龄：10.5±0.6）、青春期中期（MPUB；n = 8，年龄：12.6±0.8）和青春期后期（LPUB；n = 24，年龄：14.1±0.9）。以相应的成功率（正确反应百分比）作为协变量，对一致和不一致反应时间（RT）进行协方差分析（ANCOVA）。使用方差分析测试侧翼干扰效应。进一步检查了因变量与参与者实际年龄之间的相关性。
存在显著的组间效应，对于一致和不一致的反应时间，PRE组的反应时间均比LPUB组长（P < 0.001）。年龄与反应时间之间观察到中等程度的负相关（一致和不一致反应时间的R分别为-0.695和-0.614），年龄与不一致成功率之间观察到低程度的正相关（R = 0.318）。在LPUB组内，反应时间（R = -0.431至-0.532）和成功率（一致反应的R = -0.574，不一致反应的R = 0.417）也观察到低至中等程度的相关性。干扰效应在组间无差异，与年龄也无关联。
我们的研究结果表明，与青春期早期相比，女性青少年在成熟后期的信息处理和选择性视觉注意能力更强。反应抑制方面则不然，成熟组之间没有差异。在实际年龄方面也观察到类似趋势，但不能完全由实际年龄来解释。对于神经认知能力尚未完全发育、面临非接触性损伤风险的年轻运动员，在其运动参与和预防损伤计划中，成熟水平而非实际年龄应指导从业者。
