Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33467118›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021

The Tridirectional Relationship among Physical Activity, Stress, and Academic Performance in University Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Kathrin Wunsch, Janis Fiedler, Philip Bachert, Alexander Woll

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06423053 (A Randomized Controlled Trial of a College Human Physiology Course With Integrated Mindfulness Practice on Student Applied and Trait Mindfulness, Well-being, and Physiological Stress Reactivity), which is not on this map. Cited by 44 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
6.7field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT06423053 naenrolling by invitationnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a College Human Physiology Course With Integrated Mindfulness Practice on Student Applied and Trait Mindfulness, Well-being, and Physiological Stress Reactivity (2026)

TypeinterventionalSponsorTrustees of Dartmouth CollegeRan2026 to 2026Enrolled89ConditionsMindfulness, Stress, Well-beingArmsBiology Course with Integrated Mindfulness
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Anxiety, Academic Performance, and Physical Activity in University Students: A Scoping Review.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Kathrin WunschInstitute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9400-4130
Janis FiedlerInstitute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-9291-2191
Philip BachertInstitute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-7667-3258
Alexander WollInstitute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Higher education students often suffer from physiological and psychological health problems caused by stress, which may negatively impact their academic performance (AP). Physical activity (PA) can be a promising strategy to buffer these stress-induced complaints. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was to summarize evidence for the tridimensional construct of PA, stress, and AP, as well as to quantify the relationships among these variables. Five databases (PubMed, Scopus, SMEI, ERIC, and Web of Science) were systematically searched in November 2019 for publications that examined PA, stress, and AP of university students, without any restrictions regarding the publication period. The systematic review includes four original research studies with a moderate-to-high risk of bias. Results of included studies were narratively summarized and quantified in a meta-analysis using random effect models. Whereas study results point to a positive relation between PA and AP, relationships between PA and stress seem to be negative, while the relation between stress and AP is undecided. The meta-analysis found no significant associations and considerable heterogeneity of the results. Findings indicate a research gap concerning the connection of PA, stress, and AP in university students. Future studies should use validated measuring tools and consider the timepoint of data collection in order to extract truly stressful periods.

Indexed as

Academic PerformanceExerciseStress, PsychologicalAdultCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleStudentsUniversitiesacademic stressexamsexercisegrade point averagestudent’s health

Identifiers

PMID33467118
PMCPMC7830011
OpenAlexW3124390865

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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 Socratic graph.