SynthesisScandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports2025
The Effectiveness of School-Based Physical Activity Promotion on Mental Health Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Effectiveness of School-Based Physical Activity Promotion on Mental Health Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2025Pooled it
- Physical Activity as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Anxiety Symptoms in Chilean Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Voices on a multicomponent school-based physical activity intervention: a qualitative study with school leaders, teachers, and students from the MOVESCHOOL study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Association between school-based physical activity promotion and mental health: a population-based cross-sectional study of schoolchildren in Finland.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- School-based physical activity and adolescent mental health: candidate psychological mechanisms, contextual moderators, and unresolved controversies.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Multilevel socioecological correlates of physical activity, flourishing, and depression in children and adolescents: a structured evidence synthesis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Increasing evidence highlights the importance of schools in promoting both physical activity (PA) and mental health. However, previous findings on the effects of school-based PA on the mental health of children and adolescents are mostly based on short-term interventions. A synthesis of evidence is needed on the mental health effects of long-term PA promotion, which is more sustainably integrated into the school structures. In addition, a more comprehensive examination of mental health, considering internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, mental well-being, and social well-being, is needed. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of long-term school-based PA promotion on the mental health of 7-16-year-old children and adolescents. A literature search was conducted in six electronic databases. A total of 8795 unique articles were found, of which 38 articles describing 34 studies met the inclusion criteria. Regarding internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and mental well-being, mixed results were found. However, the review showed a positive effect on social well-being. Regarding the type of PA promotion, environmental modifications and PA promotion implemented by an external actor outside the school staff were found to be effective on mental health. PA promotion implemented by school staff without a specific protocol had no effect, while PA promotion implemented by school staff following a predefined protocol showed mixed results. Based on the results, it is recommended that schools invest in promoting PA to enhance the social well-being of children and adolescents. Trial Registration: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022355274.
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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.