SynthesisMedicine2020
Comparative efficacy of seven exercise interventions for symptoms of depression in college students: A network of meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 8 of them syntheses 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dance-Based Interventions for Mental Health: A Comprehensive and Quality-Sensitive Umbrella Review of Definitions, Measurement Practices, and Evidence Fragmentation.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Association Between Physical Activity, Heart Rate Variability and Major Depressive Disorders: An Umbrella Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Optimal intensity and dose of exercise to improve university students' mental health: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of 48 randomized controlled trials.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effect of exercise intervention on depression in children and adolescents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of Physical Exercise on Executive Function in Adults with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- The effectiveness of physical activity intervention on mobile phone addiction in college students: the chain mediating role of emotion regulation strategies and positive coping style.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- Supporting recovery: Intersections of health, belonging, and help seeking after a campus mass casualty event.PloS one · 2026Article
- Effects of exercise on depression and anxiety in university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Review
- Mind-Body Medicine in the Treatment of Depression: A Narrative Review of Efficacy, Safety and Mechanisms.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Global research trends in the effects of exercise on depression: A bibliometric study over the past two decades.Heliyon · 2024Review
- Enhancing Mental Health, Well-Being and Active Lifestyles of University Students by Means of Physical Activity and Exercise Research Programs.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Frequent Sports Dance May Serve as a Protective Factor for Depression Among College Students: A Real-World Data Analysis in China.Psychology research and behavior management · 2021Article
- Multi-omics integration and interactomics reveals molecular networks and regulators of the beneficial effect of yoga and exercise.International journal of yogaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDepression among college students is common, exercise interventions are valued as one of the most widely prescribed interventions for depressed college students, however, it is especially difficult for university administrators to determine which exercise intervention is most effective, and efficacy of exercise interventions among depressed college students have not been evaluated.
objectivesTo systematically review and compare the efficacy of 7 exercise interventions for decrease symptoms of depression in college students.
methodA network of meta-analysis (NMA) was conducted to fill the objectives. Five relatived electronic databases were searched for the related articles. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of 7 Exercise interventions with usual care of college students with depression were included in the review. MAIN OUTCOMES: The primary outcome of the present study was standardized mean difference (SMD) and the mean change of depressive symptoms.
resultsFourteentrials were identified, including 2010 depressed college students. The result of direct meta-analysis of this review indicated exercise interventions overall had a significantly lower mean depression scores (SMD = -1.13) when compared with usual care. The result of NMA indicated when comparing with badminton intervention, yoga (SMD = -7.7, 95%CI: -14 to -0.93) and Tai chi (SMD = -9.4, 95%CI: -16 to -2.7) can significantly decrease depression scores of the depressed college students. The rank of 7 exercise interventions with respect to efficiently decrease symptom of depressed undergraduates was Tai chi > Yoga > Volleyball > Dance > Run > Basketball > Badminton, respectively.
conclusionsTai chi exhibited the highest probability that became the most efficacy intervention among the comparions, and Yoga showed the second most effectiveness to alleviate depressive symptoms of depressed college students, and dance ranks the third, followed by run, volleyball, basketball, and badminton respectively.
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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.