Effect of Gender, Physical Activity and Stress-Related Hormones on Adolescent’s Academic Achievements

Background: Physical activity (PA) has been shown to develop better fitness and body function in children. Various studies have shown that as the age of students increases, its correlation with school achievement decreases. Different hormonal changes during adolescence make it difficult to adjust in his/her environment, causing stress. To the best of our knowledge, no study has studied the correlation between stress-related hormones and school performance among adolescents. This study was conducted to evaluate physical activity and stress-related hormones, cortisol and serotonin, among school adolescents aged 12–18 years old and find their association with academic achievements. Methods: A total of 300 students were invited to participate in this study. Physical activity of the participants was assessed in relation to the time spent performing various physical activities. End of the academic year grades were obtained from the school as a collective measure of academic achievement and executive function. The levels of cortisol and serotonin were measured using the competitive immunoassay techniques. Results: There was a significant correlation between age, gender, BMI, cortisol, serotonin, physical activity score; and academic achievement, and executive functioning among participants. Academic achievement and executive functioning scores correlated positively with gender, serotonin, physical activity score, but negatively with age, BMI and salivary cortisol. Stepwise regression analysis showed that physical activity and demographic parameters and stress-related hormones, cortisol and serotonin, explained around 61.9–77.9% of academic performance and executive functioning variation in school adolescents, especially females. Conclusions: Optimal physical activity and release of stress-related hormones could be the determining factor for performance in school and other activities. These results should be taken into consideration while planning the school curriculum.