Multi-task interference during walking in children, adolescents and young adults

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dual task (DT) and triple task (TT) conditions on walking performance in male children, adolescents and young adults. Based on previous multi-task research, we hypothesized that multitasking (DT and TT) would reduce walking velocity compared to single-task (ST) walking, with the strongest interference expected under TT conditions. Greater performance decrements were also anticipated in children than in adolescents and young adults. Ten children, ten adolescents, and ten young adults performed a ten-meter walking test under four conditions: ST, cognitive-DT (walking + verbal fluency), motor-DT (walking + carrying a tray with a ball), and TT (walking + verbal fluency + carrying a tray with a ball). Walking performance was quantified with the walking velocity during each condition. Multi-task walking interference was calculated based on the delta percentage (Δ%) change for walking velocity. For both children and adolescent groups, walking velocity decreased significantly (p < 0.001) during all multi-task conditions compared to the ST condition. These values were significantly (p < 0.01) lower in the TT compared to the cognitive-DT and motor-DT conditions. In the young adults’ group, the walking velocity decreased significantly (p < 0.001) only in the cognitive-DT and TT conditions in comparison to the ST one. The children’s group presented significantly (p < 0.001) lower walking velocity compared to the adolescents’ and the young adults’ groups in all multi-task conditions. The multi-task effects on walking were more apparent in children compared to adolescents and young adults. Among multi-task conditions, the TT caused the greatest interference among children and adolescents compared to the DT situations. Overall, these findings align with attentional resource theory, indicating that younger children experience greater multitasking interference due to limited attentional capacity. Practically, the results emphasize the need for age-appropriate multi-task activities to support safe and effective multitasking development.