Sport participation and vigilance in children: Influence of different sport expertise

PURPOSE: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between different types of sport expertise (externally-paced vs. self-paced sports) and vigilance performance in children by evaluating the cardiovascular fitness level of the participants. METHODS: Three groups of children (11.0 ± 0.2 years) differentiated in terms of their regular sport participation (football players, n = 20; track and field athletes, n = 20; non-athletic controls, n = 20) took part in the study. In one session, participants performed the Leger Multi-stage fitness test to estimate their aerobic fitness level. In another session, participants completed the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) to evaluate their v…