ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Active Video Games for Improving Mental Health and Physical Fitness-An Alternative for Children and Adolescents during Social Isolation: An Overview.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mobile- and Web-Based Interventions for Promoting Healthy Diets, Preventing Obesity, and Improving Health Behaviors in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Gamified Health Promotion in Schools: The Integration of Neuropsychological Aspects and CBT-A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of active video games on mental health among college students: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of Exergaming on executive function and motor ability in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Health Benefits of Video Games in Adolescents and Young Adults.Current pediatrics reports · 2026Review
- Effects of Competitive Exergaming-Based Esports on Older Adults in Hong Kong: Nonrandomized Controlled Pilot Study.JMIR serious games · 2025Article
- Associations of various internet device use and activities with depression in Chinese adolescents: gender and geographical differences.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Psychometric Properties of the Video Game Experiences Questionnaire (CERV), Problematic Use of Video Games and the Link with the Use of Mobile Devices in Mexican Children.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Playing for a Healthy Life: Integrating Mobile Exergames in Physical Education.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Influence of Gender, Parental Control, Academic Performance and Physical Activity Level on the Characteristics of Video Game Use and Associated Psychosocial Problems in Adolescents.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The relationship between the use of screen-based devices and self-reported sleep quality in adolescents aged 13-19 years in Brunei.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Video games and disability-a risk and benefit analysis.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2024Review
- The effects of interactive video games combined with LEGO game therapy on social anxiety in rural left-behind children.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Effects of Commercial Exergames and Conventional Exercises on Improving Executive Functions in Children and Adolescents: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR serious games · 2023Article
- Children's Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Sports Exergames When Played in Different Positions.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Acute Effects of Exergaming on Students' Executive Functions and Situational Interest in Elementary Physical Education.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Effectiveness of active video games in overweight and obese adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Annals of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism · 2022Article
- Review
- Effects of Active Video Games on Health-Related Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Children and Adolescents With Overweight or Obesity: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR serious games · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to synthesize the evidence on the effects of active video games (AVGs) on mental health, physical fitness and body composition of children and adolescents. A search was conducted in the following databases: PubMed; MEDLINE (by Ovid); SportDiscus, Cochrane library systematic reviews (CENTRAL) and EMBASE with no language restrictions during October 2020. Reviews on the use of AVGs were included in the study. We use the AMSTAR (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews) scale to analyze the methodological quality of the studies. Seventeen systematic reviews and meta-analyzes were included on the effects of AVGs with 30 to 4728 children and adolescents of both sexes with ages ranging from 6 to 19 years. In five studies, the population was overweight or obese. Regarding the quality, 12 studies were of moderate quality, two had high quality, two had low quality and one showed very low quality. The analyzed data indicate that the use of AVGs with a frequency of 1 to 3 times a week with durations of between 10 and 90 min per day shows positive effects on mental health and physical functioning. There was moderate quality evidence that AVGs can result in benefits for self-esteem, increased energy expenditure, physical activity and reduced body mass index in children and adolescents who used AVGs in the home environment. Further research is needed on this tool to help in the process of social isolation and consequently in promoting health and well-being.
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What 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.