ArticleThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2025
Association between outdoor physical activity and positive mental health in adolescence: estimating the mediation effect of autonomy, competence and relatedness.
Article in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effects of physical activity interventions on mental health in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention type and baseline risk as moderators.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Associations of sleep, outdoor activity, and sedentary time with depressive symptoms among secondary school students in Wuhan: an isotemporal substitution analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Can participation in sports enhance adolescents' subjective wellbeing? The chain mediation role of social support and basic psychological needs.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBoth nature and physical activity practice have been identified as positive contributors to mental health and well-being. Engaging in outdoor physical activity (OPA) likely combines these benefits. However, the mechanisms through which these associations operate remain unknown. Since OPA can promote the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness and basic psychological needs are associated with positive mental health, they could represent a mediator in the OPA-positive mental health association. The aims of this study are to 1) estimate the association between OPA and positive mental health in adolescents and 2) examine whether satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness mediate this relationship.
methodsData from the MATCH longitudinal study were used to examine these objectives in young (14–15 years), middle-age (15–16 years) and older (16–17 years) adolescents. OPA and satisfaction of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness were self-reported three times per year. Positive mental health was self-reported once per year. Linear and logistic regression models (objective 1) and mediation analyses based on counterfactual definitions of natural direct (NDE) and natural indirect (NIE) effects (objective 2) were performed, adjusting for age, gender, puberty stage, and neighborhood income.
resultsNo association was found between OPA frequency and positive mental health in young adolescents (OR [95% CI] = 1.10 [0.69, 1.75]); however, a positive association is observed in middle-age (OR [95% CI] = 1.99 [1.11, 3.57]) and older (OR [95% CI] = 3.40 [1.25, 10.09]) adolescents. Mediation analyses suggest that only relatedness may mediate the OPA-positive mental health association among middle-age adolescents.
conclusionsResults indicate that OPA may relate differently to positive mental health across adolescence and that underpinning mechanisms need to be further investigated.
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