Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40559673›Full record

ReviewSports (Basel, Switzerland)2025

Towards Optimal Health Through Boredom Aversion Based on Experiencing Psychological Flow in a Self-Directed Exercise Regime-A Scoping Review of Recent Research.

Carol Nash

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Carol NashHistory of Medicine Program, Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A1, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-0608-0008

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOptimal health requires self-direction for exercise regime consistency. Boredom may cause abandoning regular exercise. Experiencing psychological flow-a concept psychologist Csikszentmihalyi originated-may avert boredom.

methodA search of post-2020 peer-reviewed publications following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines for scoping reviews investigates the range of research on this topic. The databases searched are OVID, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The keywords are "Csikszentmihalyi AND flow AND exercise AND boredom". Included returns contain all the keywords. Those excluded are reviews, books, reports missing any keywords, non-English reports, reports not based on research studies, and research published before 2020.

resultsTwo databases returned the included results: OVID (n = 3) and Google Scholar (n = 8).

conclusions(1) Boredom is not evident when experiencing exercise-programme psychological flow. (2) Psychological flow evolves with self-directed changes in an exercise programme. (3) Successful exercise programme modifications during COVID-19 considered the imposed limitations. (4) Exercise regimes that are neither excessive nor extreme promote optimal health. And (5) optimal health accounts for exercise skill level and gender. Additionally, cognitive bias is avertable with a research team. Studies should include the research date and location and how flow reduces boredom, permitting accurate comparisons.

Indexed as

boredomCOVID-19Csikszentmihalyiexercise regimegenderoptimal healthPRIMSA-ScRpsychological flowself-directionskill level

Identifiers

PMID40559673
PMCPMC12197014

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.