SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2025
The effect of the physical exercise intervention on negative emotions in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. 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.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize existing evidence on the association between physical exercise (PE) interventions and negative emotions (NEs), including anxiety and depressive symptoms, among adolescents and children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), while carefully considering sample size limitations and evidence heterogeneity. Methods: Relevant studies were obtained from PubMed, EBSCO, Cochrane, Web of Science, Embase, and PsyINFO databases up to 27 June, 2025. Key search terms included NEs, PE, adolescents and children, and NDDs. Meta-analysis was performed utilizing Review Manager 5.3, applying a random-effects model to estimate the standardized mean difference (SMD) along with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Subgroup analyses were conducted based on the type of negative emotion, intervention modality, duration, timing, and frequency. Results: PE interventions were associated with a statistically significant overall reduction in NEs in adolescents and children with NDDs (SMD = -0.60, 95% CI: -1.02 to -0.18, p < 0.01, Z = 2.80, I² = 79%). The effect was most evident for anxiety (SMD = -0.56, 95% CI: -1.11 to -0.00, p = 0.05, I² = 83%), suggesting a potential reduction in anxiety symptoms that approaches statistical significance. However, the findings for depressive symptoms were inconclusive (SMD = -0.82, 95% CI: -2.00 to -0.36, p = 0.17, I² = 87%), likely due to heterogeneity in interventions, small sample sizes, and variability in measurement tools. Subgroup analysis suggested that engaging in mixed forms of PE for a minimum of 60 minutes per session, once weekly, over a 12-week period, was especially effective in improving emotional well-being in this population. Conclusion: This study highlights the potential of PE interventions to alleviate negative emotions-especially anxiety-among adolescents and children with NDDs, but emphasizes that evidence for depressive symptoms remains inconclusive. The findings should be interpreted with caution due to limited study numbers, predominance of ADHD-focused samples, heterogeneity across studies, and reliance on subjective assessment tools. Future high-quality, adequately powered randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm these effects and clarify optimal intervention parameters. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/recorddashboard, identifier CRD420251081387.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.