ReviewCurrent psychiatry reports2016
Using Physical Activity to Manage ADHD Symptoms:The State of the Evidence.
Review in Current psychiatry reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness of Physical Activity Intervention on ADHD Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Inline Skating Exercise on Symptoms, Executive Functions, and Motor Proficiency in Children With ADHD: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Occupational therapy international · 2025Trial
- Subtle Motor Signs as a Biomarker for Mindful Movement Intervention in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPTrial
- The Effect of a Structured and Progressive Rhythmiccognitive Dual-task Exercise Program on Impulsivity in Children With ADHD.Basic and clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Perspectives on Physical Activity and Learning from Children With and Without ADHD.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Alterations in mitochondrial energy metabolites following acute subconcussive head impacts among athletes with and without ADHD.iScience · 2025Article
- The Role of Physical Activity in ADHD Management: Diagnostic, Digital and Non-Digital Interventions, and Lifespan Considerations.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Understanding the Impact of Home Confinement on Children and Young People with ADHD and ASD During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Child psychiatry and human development · 2024Article
- Active Engagement: The Impact of Group-Based Physical Activities on the Resilience of Israeli Adolescents with ADHD.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Acute Effects of Walking and Standing on Executive Function in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Feasibility Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Physical and mental health in adolescence: novel insights from a transdiagnostic examination of FitBit data in the ABCD study.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Development of a human-analogue, 3-symptom domain Dog ADHD and Functionality Rating Scale (DAFRS).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of active breaks on educational achievement in children with and without ADHD: study protocol and rationale of the Break4Brain project.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Physical and Mental Health in Adolescence: Novel Insights from a transdiagnostic examination of FitBit data in the ABCD Study.Research square · 2023Article
- Effects of a 4-Week After-School Physical Literacy Program on Health-Related Quality of Life and Symptomatology in Schoolchildren with ADHD: A Study Protocol.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Physical Activity in Families Managing ADHD and the Cyclical Effect on Worsening Mental Health.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Comorbidity Between Internalising and Externalising Disorders Among Adolescents: Symptom Connectivity Features and Psychosocial Outcome.Child psychiatry and human development · 2023Article
- Associations of meeting 24-h movement behavior guidelines with cognitive difficulty and social relationships in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactive disorder.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2023Article
- Effects of physical exercise on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Biomedical journal · 2022Review
- Association of Children's Physical Activity and Screen Time With Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.JAMA network open · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This article summarizes the evidence for management of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using chronic aerobic physical activity (PA). Known studies comparing chronic aerobic PA to at least one control group are listed; uncontrolled studies and studies of non-aerobic PA are not considered. Key challenges to conducting chronic PA studies with children and youth with ADHD are summarized. After condensing information from widely varying studies, measures, and research designs, conclusions are stated in broad brush stroke terms. Preliminary evidence supports PA as beneficial for ADHD symptoms, executive function, and motor abilities. Social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes also may benefit. The preliminary state of the evidence supports PA as an adjunctive treatment for ADHD at this time, but the body and sophistication of the research to date is insufficient at present to support PA as a stand-alone treatment. Critical directions for future research are discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27807701What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.