Banca de DEFESA: MATEUS FREITAS DE MEDEIROS

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : MATEUS FREITAS DE MEDEIROS
DATE: 28/08/2025
TIME: 14:00
LOCAL: DEPARTAMENTO DE EDUCAÇÃO FISICA
TITLE:

THE EFFECT OF MENTAL FATIGUE ON COGNITIVE AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS IN YOUNG SCHOOL ATHLETES

KEY WORDS:

Keywords: Social media; Mental fatigue; Young athletes; Cognition; Sprint.

PAGES: 118
BIG AREA: Ciências da Saúde
AREA: Educação Física
SUMMARY:

INTRODUCTION: Excessive smartphone use has impacted daily life, especially among young people, causing psychocognitive impairments such as mental fatigue (MF). In the sports context, MF has been observed to impair essential executive functions such as inhibitory control and decision-making. With regard to physical performance, its effect on aerobic activities is understood, but there is still no consensus on anaerobic tasks, especially among young school athletes. OBJECTIVE: Thus, the study aims to investigate the impact of mental fatigue induced by social networks on cognitive and physical aspects in young futsal athletes. METHODOLOGY: Randomized crossover clinical trial with 16 school athletes (males aged 13 to 16 years). The subjects underwent two conditions: the control condition consisted of watching a 40-minute neutral documentary, and the intervention condition consisted of using social media of their choice for 40 minutes without interruption. They were evaluated in anthropometry and biological maturation (BM), sleep quality questionnaire, visual analog scale (VAS), and Stroop test before and after the mental stress protocol to measure the level of mental fatigue and cognitive performance. To measure physical performance, the RAST anaerobic performance protocol and Borg's subjective perception of effort (PSE) scale were used. RESULTS: Subjects exposed to 40 minutes of social media had a higher mental fatigue index compared to the control condition (effect size: -0.750; power: 0.905). Regarding the Stroop task, the number of errors in the incongruent phase was lower in the control condition, while the number of correct answers was higher compared to the experimental condition (p = 0.044; power = 0.928/0.999). Furthermore, in the control condition, the total reaction time was faster compared to the experimental condition (p = 0.044; power = 0.942). However, from a physical perspective, in both conditions, there was no correlation between mental fatigue and anaerobic performance in all variables analyzed (p = 0.719; power = 0.065); (0.499; power = 0.106); (p = 0.303; power = 0.187) (p = 0.568; power = 0.089). CONCLUSION: It is concluded that 40 minutes of social media use on smartphones can induce mental fatigue in young futsal athletes, affecting cognitive aspects such as inhibitory control (attention and concentration) and reaction time. However, with regard to physical performance, there is no significant correlation between cognitive overload and anaerobic performance, assuming that, due to its high intensity and short duration, this activity is more closely linked to peripheral mechanisms such as muscle contraction capacity, which does not require cognitive aspects.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Interno - 2627140 - BRENO GUILHERME DE ARAUJO TINOCO CABRAL
Interno - 1277591 - DANIEL GOMES DA SILVA MACHADO
Interno - 2626634 - PAULO MOREIRA SILVA DANTAS
Externo à Instituição - FELIPE JOSÉ AIDAR MARTINS - UFS
Externo à Instituição - FRANCISCO EMILIO SIMPLICIO DE SOUZA - UERN