ArticleFrontiers in behavioral neuroscience2022
Physical activity and the development of general mental health problems or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children and adolescents: A cross-lagged panel analysis of long-term follow-up epidemiological data.
Article in Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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9 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical activity profiles of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms among preschool children.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Prospective association of device-based physical activity and sedentary time during childhood with mental health outcomes during adolescence.Child and adolescent mental health · 2026Article
- The Role of Sleep in Mediating Mental Health Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Children with and Without ADHD.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Protective Factors Against Social Exclusion in Adolescents: Physical Condition and Physical Activity.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Hyperactive-impulsive behavior does not moderate the association between executive function and physical activity in preschoolers.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- Longitudinal relations of prematurity and fetal growth restrictions with hyperactivity/inattention and aggression/delinquency.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Physical activity and psychopathology: are long-term developmental trajectories of physical activity in children and adolescents associated with trajectories of general mental health problems and of attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) symptoms?European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Associations between Parental Educational Attainment, Children's 24-h Behaviors and Children's Hyperactivity Behavior in the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Health enhancing behaviors in early adolescence: an investigation of nutrition, sleep, physical activity, mindfulness and social connectedness and their association with psychological distress and wellbeing.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
Studies have shown that physical activity (PA) can provide a helpful, low-risk, and cost-effective intervention for children and adolescents suffering from mental health problems. This longitudinal study aimed to assess whether PA prevents the development of mental health problems, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. Data were analyzed from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) collected from more than 15.000 children and adolescents at three different time points over a period of more than 10 years. Parents scored the PA of the study participants on three frequency levels according to WHO recommendations, and mental health problems were assessed by means of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The total problem score (SDQ-Total) and the hyperactivity/inattention symptoms sub-scale (SDQ-H/I) were used in an autoregressive cross-lagged model to examine their relationship with PA. The results showed that PA of boys and girls at preschool age was inversely associated with the occurrence of mental health problems and, in particular, ADHD symptoms about 6 years later. Higher levels of PA were associated with better general mental health and fewer ADHD symptoms at the next time point (Wave 1). These effects were not observed from preadolescence (Wave 1) to adolescence (Wave 2), neither for girls nor for boys. These findings indicate that medium-to-high PA may be a supportive factor for good mental health in children in preschool and elementary school. Future studies will have to show whether PA may be a helpful add-on for interventional programs for improving general mental health and alleviating ADHD symptoms among children and adolescents.
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