Trial reportBMC psychology2025
Group sports games for social anxiety in university students: a randomized controlled trial revealing gender-specific efficacy.
Trial report in BMC psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Exercise as an adjunct intervention for social anxiety disorder: a mini-review.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Review
- Instagram shared tasks in reducing speech anxiety among international students learning Turkish.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
backgroundSocial anxiety is a prevalent issue among college students, with many experiencing chronic anxiety in social situations and a strong fear of negative evaluation. This condition can severely impair both occupational and social functioning, leading to significant consequences.
objectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Therapeutic Group Sports Games (TGSG) for reducing social anxiety. The TGSG intervention incorporates Yalom's therapeutic principles into structured sports activities.
methodsA total of 105 college students with elevated social anxiety were randomly assigned to either the Therapeutic Group Sports Games (TGSG) group (n = 53), which systematically integrated Yalom's therapeutic principles into structured group sports activities, or an active control group engaging in standard aerobic exercise (AE, n = 52). Both interventions were delivered twice weekly for ten weeks, for 60 min per session. The primary outcomes were scores on the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS) and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNES), assessed at baseline and post-intervention.
resultsA significant time × group interaction was observed, which was moderated by gender. For female participants, the TGSG intervention demonstrated superior efficacy over aerobic exercise on both the IAS (F (1, 50) = 25.313, p < .001, partial η²= 0.336) and the BFNES (F [1,, 50] = 7.208, p = .010, partial η²=0.126), representing large effect sizes. For male participants, both the TGSG and AE groups showed significant within-group improvements over time (p < .01 for both measures), but no significant between-group differences emerged (p >.09).
conclusionsThe TGSG intervention is a highly effective, gender-sensitive approach for alleviating social anxiety in female college students. Its superiority over physical activity alone confirms that the therapeutic mechanisms reside in its structured social and psychological components. These findings offer a promising, scalable mental health intervention that can circumvent the avoidance characteristic of social anxiety.
trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) ChiCTR2500108203. Registered on 26 August 2025. Retrospectively registered.
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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.