{ "abstract": "Introduction: Movement behaviours (sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity) influence numerous health outcomes in children, including their social-emotional development. The optimal 24-hour movement behaviour composition for positive social-emotional development is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the movement behaviour composition across the 24-hour day associated with desired social-emotional functioning in the early years. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 560 children aged 1.2–2.9 years and 1,500 children aged 3.0–4.9 years from the Sleep and Activity Database (SADEY) for the Early Years study. Sedentary behaviour (SED), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured using ActiGraph accelerometers. Sleep duration was assessed using parent reports. Children social-emotional functioning was measured using the five domains of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a widely used screening instrument of children’s behaviours, emotions, and relationships across five domains (emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, and prosocial behaviour). Compositional data analyses were used to estimate the 24-hour movement behaviour compositions associated with optimal scores for each of the SDQ domain z-scores and all five domains combined (the Goldilocks day). Results: The movement behaviour composition was significantly associated with all five SDQ domains (all p < .01). For 1–2-year-olds, the Goldilocks day consisted of 12 h 12 min of sleep, 4 h 36 min of SED, 5 h 48 min of LPA, and 1h 24 min of MVPA. For 3–4-year-olds, it consisted of 12 h 08 min of sleep, 4 h 27 min of SED, 5 h 49 min of LPA, and 1 h 36 min of MVPA. Conclusion: The duration of total physical activity and MVPA associated with more favourable social-emotional functioning exceeded the minimum levels specified in the current 24-hour Movement Guidelines. These findings should not be interpreted as behavioural recommendations but rather as movement behaviour patterns associated with more favourable outcomes within this study population.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.", "School of Education, Early Start, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia.", "Department of Sport, Food and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Sogndal, Norway.", "Department of Orthopedic Surgery, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.", "SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.", "Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health & Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.", "Department of Physical Education. Federal University of Santa Catarina, Sports Center, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.", "MRC Epidemiology Unit, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.", "School of Population and Global Health and Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.", "Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.", "Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.", "Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.", "Institute of Education and Research Centre on Child Studies, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.", "Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada." ], "article_type": "Research Article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 17, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Samah Zahran" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Dylan P Cliff" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Devan Antczak" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Eivind Aadland" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Emad A Anam" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Katrine N Aadland" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Jade Burley" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Catherine E Draper", "orcid": "0000-0002-2885-437X" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Dorothea Dumuid" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "Diego Augusto Santos Silva" }, { "affs": [ 7 ], "name": "Esther M F van Sluijs" }, { "affs": [ 8 ], "name": "Hayley Christian" }, { "affs": [ 9, 10, 11 ], "name": "Mark S Tremblay" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Timothy S Olds" }, { "affs": [ 12 ], "name": "Rute Santos", "orcid": "0000-0002-7604-5753" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Zhiguang Zhang" }, { "affs": [ 0, 13 ], "name": "Ian Janssen", "orcid": "0000-0003-2159-3012" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/86jr6m27ssndk.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361046", "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13686454", "id": "86jr6m27ssndk", "issns": [ "1932-6203" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361046", "language": "eng", "licence": "CC-BY", "licence_label": "CC BY", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "openalex", "2737|Physical Activity and Health" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive science/Cognitive psychology/Social cognition/Prosocial behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Physiology/Physiological processes/Sleep" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Behavior/Prosocial behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Behavior/Sedentary behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Social cognition/Prosocial behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Emotions" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Social psychology/Social cognition/Prosocial behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Biology and life sciences/Sports science/Sports and exercise medicine/Exercise" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Public and occupational health/Physical activity" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Public and occupational health/Physical activity/Physical fitness/Exercise" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Sports and exercise medicine/Exercise" ], [ "plos", "/People and places/Population groupings/Age groups" ], [ "plos", "/People and places/Population groupings/Age groups/Children" ], [ "plos", "/People and places/Population groupings/Families/Children" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Behavior/Prosocial behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Behavior/Sedentary behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Social cognition/Prosocial behavior" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Emotions" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Psychology/Social psychology/Social cognition/Prosocial behavior" ] ], "openalex": "W7223099465", "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13686454?pdf=render", "pmcid": "PMC13686454", "pmid": "42905691", "published": "2026-10-21", "publisher": "Public Library of Science", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/86jr6m27ssndk.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:23Z", "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361046", "source": "plos", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361046" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z", "native_id": "MED:42905691", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42905691" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "biology", "origin": "plos:neuroscience", "subfield": "neuroscience" }, { "field": "medicine", "origin": "plos:public and occupational health", "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health" }, { "field": "medicine", "origin": "plos:physiology", "subfield": "physiology" } ], "title": "24-hour movement behaviour composition associated with desired social-emotional functioning in the early years", "title_text": "24-hour movement behaviour composition associated with desired social-emotional functioning in the early years", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/86jr6m27ssndk", "venue": "PLOS One", "versions": [] }