ArticleFrontiers in public health2026
Engagement in gamified virtual reality sports activities and sports participation intention among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: the mediating roles of immersion and enjoyment.
Article in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face multiple barriers to sports participation because of cognitive rigidity, sensory processing difficulties, and challenges in social interaction. Gamified virtual reality (VR) sports activities have emerged as a potential approach to support physical activity in this population. However, limited research has examined the psychological mechanisms underlying engagement in gamified VR sports activities among adolescents with ASD. Therefore, this study examined the association between engagement in gamified VR sports activities and sports participation intention among adolescents with ASD, focusing on the mediating roles of immersion and enjoyment. Methods: A total of 179 adolescents with ASD (aged 10-19 years; 78.2% male) and 179 corresponding proxy respondents (teachers and sports instructors) participated in this study, each forming a one-to-one respondent-participant pair. The participants were recruited from special education schools and sports clubs in South Korea that were equipped with non-immersive VR sports systems. Engagement in gamified VR sports activities, immersion, enjoyment, and sports participation intention were assessed using a structured questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the measurement model, and structural equation modeling with bootstrapping was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Results: Engagement in gamified VR sports activities was positively associated with immersion ( Conclusion: The findings suggest that both immersion and enjoyment serve as meaningful psychological mediators linking engagement in gamified VR sports activities to sports participation intention among adolescents with ASD. The structured and predictable nature of gamified VR sports environments may be particularly well-suited to the cognitive and sensory characteristics of adolescents with ASD, facilitating psychological involvement and positive affective responses associated with greater sports participation intention. However, given the cross-sectional design and the use of proxy-reported measures, the findings should be interpreted with caution.
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.