SynthesisBMC public health2025
Effects of exercise interventions on executive function in school-aged children with ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Intervention effects of long-term exercise on executive function in children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a three-level meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of exercise intervention on executive function in college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Trial
- Sculpting the developing brain: a review of neural mechanisms linking physical activity to executive function and emotion regulation in youth.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Effects of a 12-week mini-basketball exercise intervention on executive function in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExecutive function deficits are a core deficit among school-aged children with ADHD. Although exercise interventions have received increasing attention in recent years, many existing studies have overlooked potential biases introduced by differences in measurement paradigms and scoring methods, which may compromise the validity and consistency of the findings. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effects of exercise interventions on executive function in school-aged children with ADHD and to explore the moderating effects of measurement paradigms under different scoring methods.
methodsA systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, CNKI, and Wanfang, covering publications from database inception to December 28, 2024. A total of 16 randomized controlled trials were included. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 17.0.
resultsThe meta-analysis revealed that exercise interventions had significant overall effects on improving inhibitory control(positive scoring: g = 0.60, 95% CI [0.34, 0.87], P < 0.001; reverse scoring: g=-0.69, 95% CI [-0.91, -0.46], P < 0.001) and working memory (positive scoring: g = 0.51, 95% CI [0.30, 0.70], P < 0.001; reverse scoring: g=-0.55, 95% CI [-0.74, -0.36], P < 0.001) in school-aged children with ADHD under both positive and reverse scoring conditions. However, the overall effect on cognitive flexibility was significant only under the reverse scoring condition (g=-0.54, 95% CI [-0.75, -0.33], P < 0.001), and not under the positive scoring condition (g = 0.28, 95% CI [-0.01, 0.56], P = 0.10). Subgroup analyses further indicated that the effects of exercise interventions on inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility varied depending on the measurement paradigms and scoring methods used.
conclusionExercise interventions can significantly improve inhibitory control and working memory in school-aged children with ADHD. However, their effect on cognitive flexibility appears to be limited. Moreover, the observed intervention effects are influenced by the measurement paradigms and scoring. METHODS EMPLOYED: .
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.