SynthesisFrontiers in public health2026
Physical activity contexts and adolescent mental health: a systematic review of structured and unstructured approaches, 2015-2025.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Association between physical activity and mental health among Yi students aged 10-18 years in Southwest China: a school-based cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 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
Background: Adolescent mental health problems represent a growing public health concern worldwide. Physical activity (PA) is a modifiable protective factor that supports emotional and social wellbeing, yet most research has emphasized the amount or intensity of activity rather than the context in which it occurs. Comparing structured settings (for example, PE, team sport, classroom programs, supervised dance/arts) and unstructured settings (for example, self-directed leisure, community, or nature-based opportunities) may help identify which forms of engagement best promote mental health and guide scalable interventions. Objective: To synthesize recent evidence on associations between physical activity contexts and mental health outcomes among adolescents, and to compare structured vs. unstructured approaches. Methods: A systematic review with narrative synthesis (without meta-analysis) was conducted following PRISMA 2020. Eligible designs included cross-sectional, cohort, quasi-experimental, and qualitative studies. Risk of bias was appraised using JBI (cross-sectional/cohort), ROBINS-I (non-randomized), and CASP-Qualitative. Narrative synthesis followed SWiM guidance for both quantitative and qualitative evidence, and certainty of evidence was summarized using GRADE and CERQual. Results: Across contexts, associations were predominantly favorable for wellbeing/affect, self-concept/competence, and prosocial/connectedness, with more mixed patterns for depression/anxiety and resilience. Effects were moderated by environmental quality, supervision, and autonomy support. Certainty ranged from very low to moderate due to the predominance of observational designs and reliance on self-report measures. Conclusions: The available evidence suggests that policy and practice may benefit from combining competence-building, structured opportunities with safe, autonomy-supportive, unstructured, and nature-based options in schools and communities. These implications should be interpreted with caution, given the predominance of observational study designs and the very low to moderate certainty of the evidence. Reporting environmental fidelity and motivation-related constructs may enhance interpretability and support translation into routine mental health promotion services.
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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.