{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T18:14:12Z","timestamp":1788286452794,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788220800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Humanities and Social Science Research Youth Fund, the Ministry of Education of China","award":["23YJC890039"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["23YJC890039"]}]},{"name":"Basic Science (Natural Science) Research Project for Higher Education Institutions in Jiangsu Province","award":["25KJD190001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["25KJD190001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Late adolescence is a developmental period in which executive functions are relatively consolidated but remain sensitive to behavioral and environmental influences. Physical activity (PA) has been associated with executive-function outcomes, but the psychological factors that may be related to this association remain unclear. Objective: This study examined whether PA_total was associated with a reaction-time-based executive-function composite (EF_RT) through intrusive rumination (IR) and deliberate rumination (DR), and whether mindfulness moderated the PA_total\u2009\u2192\u2009IR and IR\u2009\u2192\u2009EF_RT associations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Late adolescents (N\u2009=\u2009450; 266 males; aged 17\u201319 years) completed measures of PA, rumination, and mindfulness. EF_RT was derived from standardized RT-based indicators from computerized Flanker, 2-back, and More\u2013Odd Shifting tasks. Lower EF_RT values indicate better RT-based task performance. Structural equation models were used to test parallel indirect associations and observed-variable interaction terms, with gender included as a covariate. Bias-corrected bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples was used to estimate indirect and conditional indirect associations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>PA_total showed significant positive total and direct associations with EF_RT, indicating that higher PA_total was associated with higher RT-based scores, that is, slower or less efficient RT-based task performance. Significant indirect associations were observed through both IR and DR. Mindfulness moderated the PA_total\u2009\u2192\u2009IR and IR\u2009\u2192\u2009EF_RT associations, and the conditional indirect association through IR varied across levels of mindfulness. Because EF_RT is a reaction-time-based composite, positive coefficients involving EF_RT indicate higher RT-based scores, reflecting longer reaction times or larger RT costs, rather than better EF ability.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>PA_total, rumination, mindfulness, and EF_RT were interrelated in late adolescents. The findings should be interpreted as cross-sectional associations involving RT-based executive-function performance, including an unexpected positive PA_total\u2013EF_RT association indicating slower or less efficient RT-based performance, rather than as evidence of causal effects on EF ability.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0357384","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T17:29:43Z","timestamp":1788283783000},"page":"e0357384","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Physical activity and executive function in adolescents: Dual rumination pathways and mindfulness moderation"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7745-1630","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Shimeng","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Sports Science, 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