Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33581775›Full record

ReviewThe lancet. Psychiatry2021

How leisure activities affect health: a narrative review and multi-level theoretical framework of mechanisms of action.

Daisy Fancourt, Henry Aughterson, Saoirse Finn, Emma Walker, Andrew Steptoe

Erratum issuedAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in The lancet. Psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 195 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
195citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

195 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  17. Not coping with stress and screen-time: mixed methods.International journal of circumpolar health · 2026
    Article
  18. Understanding Inequalities Shaping Engagement With Cultural and Green Assets to Improve Mental Health for Underserved Communities: A Qualitative Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

135 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Daisy FancourtDepartment of Behavioural Science & Health, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: d.fancourt@ucl.ac.uk.
Henry AughtersonDepartment of Behavioural Science & Health, University College London, London, UK.
Saoirse FinnDepartment of Behavioural Science & Health, University College London, London, UK.
Emma WalkerDepartment of Epidemiology & Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
Andrew SteptoeDepartment of Behavioural Science & Health, University College London, London, UK.

Funding

Infectious Diseases/Basic Microbial Pathogenic MechanismsT32AI007172 · NIAID · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI Daniel E. Goldberg, JENNIFER A PHILIPS · 1985 to 2026
$13.0M
Wellcome Trust 205407Wellcome Trust 205407/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There is a large and growing body of evidence on the health benefits of engagement in leisure activities (voluntary, enjoyable non-work activities, such as hobbies, arts, volunteering, community group membership, sports, and socialising). However, there is no unifying framework explaining how leisure activities affect health: what the mechanisms of action are by which engagement with leisure activities leads to the prevention, management, or treatment of mental and physical illness. In this Review, we identify and map over 600 mechanisms of action. These mechanisms can be categorised as psychological, biological, social, and behavioural processes that operate at individual (micro), group (meso), and societal (macro) levels, and are synthesised into a new theoretical framework: the Multi-level Leisure Mechanisms Framework. This framework situates understanding of leisure activities within the theoretical lens of complex adaptive systems and aims to support the design of more theory-driven, cross-disciplinary studies.

Indexed as

FemaleHealth StatusHumansLeisure ActivitiesMale

Identifiers

PMID33581775
PMCPMC7613155

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.