Extracurricular multilateral training incorporating cognitive–motor activities and its effects on motor proficiency, cognitive ability, and problematic internet use in adolescents

In an era defined by rapid digital transformation and expanding screen-time dependencies among youth, a new public health and educational study has highlighted a promising countermeasure. Researchers investigating adolescent development in Jakarta, Indonesia, have demonstrated that a structured 12-week extracurricular multilateral training (EMT) program—specifically incorporating cognitive-motor activities—significantly enhances motor proficiency and fluid cognitive ability while mitigating problematic internet use (PIU).

The findings arrive at a critical juncture for global health agencies. As modern lifestyles tilt heavily toward smartphones, social media, and digital gaming, physical inactivity has reached staggering global proportions, with approximately 80% of adolescents failing to meet the World Health Organization’s daily recommendation of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. In developing urban centers like Jakarta, where internet penetration exceeds 79% and sedentary behaviors routinely replace active play, the convergence of low physical literacy and excessive digital exposure has posed severe challenges to neuromuscular coordination and cognitive development.

Pragmatic Research Design and Chronology

The study, conducted as a parallel-group, school-based randomized controlled trial (RCT), spanned from January through April 2026. Initially, 92 junior high school students aged 12 to 16 years were voluntarily recruited from public institutions in Jakarta through informational sessions and school announcements. Following medical screenings, parental consents, and student assents, participants were allocated via computer-generated block randomization into either an experimental EMT group or a standard control group (CG).

Due to adherence criteria and typical attrition in real-world educational interventions, 88 participants successfully completed the trial (43 in the EMT group and 45 in the CG). The baseline characteristics of both cohorts were balanced, showing no significant initial discrepancies in age, body mass index (BMI), weekly baseline physical activity duration, or screen-time habits.

The experimental intervention was structured around the established World Athletics Kids’ Athletics framework and long-term athletic development principles. Rather than relying on early sport specialization or repetitive single-discipline drills, the EMT program exposed students to diverse, progressively challenging movement patterns—including running, jumping, throwing, balance drills, and agility exercises. Crucially, each 60-minute session, conducted twice weekly on non-consecutive days, integrated explicit cognitive-motor elements. These included dual-task exercises, response-inhibition tasks, visual-reaction challenges, and decision-making movement games. The control group participated exclusively in standard national curriculum physical education lessons, averaging two 40-minute sessions per week containing conventional fitness and recreational sports.

Comprehensive Evaluation and Core Data Outcomes

To rigorously measure changes across multiple human developmental domains, researchers prespecified three primary outcomes assessed at pre-test and immediately post-intervention: motor proficiency (MP), cognitive ability (CA), and problematic internet use (PIU).

Motor proficiency was quantified using selected subtests from the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2), evaluating bilateral coordination, balance, strength, running speed, agility, and upper-limb coordination. Cognitive ability was measured using Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM), a non-verbal assessment of fluid intelligence and abstract reasoning. Problematic internet use was evaluated using the Problematic and Risky Internet Use Screening Scale (PRIUSS), focusing on social impairment, emotional impairment, and impulsive internet consumption.

To isolate the true intervention effect, researchers utilized Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) models that meticulously controlled for corresponding baseline outcomes, daily physical activity duration, gender, and parental education levels. The statistical results revealed sweeping advantages for the experimental cohort:

• Motor Proficiency: Post-intervention ANCOVA demonstrated significantly superior adjusted scores in the EMT group (141.127 ± 0.528) compared to the control group (135.190 ± 0.515), yielding a large effect size (Partial $eta^2$ = 0.422, $p < 0.001$).
• Cognitive Ability: Adjusted post-intervention scores for fluid reasoning were markedly higher in the EMT group (39.755 ± 0.405) relative to the controls (35.678 ± 0.395), demonstrating a substantial effect size (Partial $eta^2$ = 0.369, $p < 0.001$).
• Problematic Internet Use: The EMT group achieved significantly lower adjusted post-intervention PIU scores (15.516 ± 0.249) compared to the control group (16.973 ± 0.243), indicating a notable behavioral improvement (Partial $eta^2$ = 0.163, $p < 0.001$).

Secondary correlation analyses further illuminated the complex interplay between these domains. At baseline, higher cognitive ability was positively correlated with motor proficiency and negatively correlated with problematic internet use across all participants. Notably, motor proficiency demonstrated a strong negative correlation with problematic internet use exclusively within the EMT group, pointing toward an intrinsic relationship between physical competence and behavioral self-regulation.

Institutional Perspectives and Contextual Factors

Lead researchers and educational specialists note that the outcomes underscore the necessity of moving beyond conventional, unstructured physical education. By deliberately intertwining cognitive processing tasks—such as rule-switching, color-response cues, and memory-based movement sequences—with physical conditioning, the intervention stimulated neural pathways associated with executive function and impulse control.

Furthermore, the data highlighted the distinct role of family and socioeconomic background. Parental educational attainment emerged as a significant covariate influencing motor proficiency, reflecting broader disparities in home resources, nutritional awareness, and parental guidance regarding technology management. Investigators emphasized that while multilateral training is a powerful school-based tool, it operates most effectively within a supportive ecosystem that accounts for family involvement and healthy lifestyle guidance.

Implications for Public Health and Education Policy

The successful implementation of the 12-week extracurricular multilateral training program offers actionable insights for school administrators, policymakers, and public health officials globally. As educational institutions grapple with the rising tide of digital addiction, attention deficits, and physical decline among adolescents, integrating structured cognitive-motor programs into after-school schedules presents a pragmatic, low-cost intervention strategy.

Experts caution against viewing physical activity as a standalone cure for digital over-reliance. Problematic internet use remains a multifactorial behavioral issue influenced by psychological stressors, peer environments, and digital platform design. Therefore, future public health initiatives must combine structured physical literacy programs with comprehensive digital literacy training, self-regulation education, and active parental engagement.

Ultimately, the Jakarta study provides robust empirical backing for updating school physical education frameworks. By fostering environments where physical vitality and cognitive engagement reinforce one another, schools can better equip adolescents to navigate the physical and digital demands of the modern world.