Citation

Beurskens R, Muehlbauer T, Grabow L, Kliegl R, Granacher U. J. Mot. Behav. 2016; 48(6): 500-508.

Affiliation

Department of Sports and Health Sciences , Division of Training and Movement Sciences, University of Potsdam , Potsdam , Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00222895.2016.1152137

PMID

27341660

Abstract

Primary school children perform parts of their everyday activities while carrying school supplies and being involved in attention-demanding situations. Twenty-eight children (8-10 years old) performed a 1-legged stance and a 10 m walking test under single- and dual-task situations in unloaded (i.e., no backpack) and loaded conditions (i.e., backpack with 20% of body mass).

RESULTS showed that load carriage did not significantly influence children's standing and walking performance (all p >.05), while divided attention affected all proxies of walking (all p <.001). Last, no significant load by attention interactions was detected. The single application of attentional but not load demand negatively affects children's walking performance. A combined application of both did not further deteriorate their gait behavior.

Language: en