Connections between exercise and healthy psychological functioning are abundant in research on adults and the elderly. As a lifestyle choice, people who choose to exercise can’t go wrong! There is accumulating evidence that exercise can be equally beneficial for adolescents with mental disorders such as depression. What about the role of exercise in promoting overall well-being in adolescents?
The authors of a 2019 publication gathered over 100 studies focusing on exercise, sedentary behavior, and mental health. A strength of this meta-analysis was the inclusion of different types of studies including randomized-controlled trials, non-randomized controlled trials, prospective longitudinal, and cross-sectional studies.
Variables of interest in the meta-analysis included physical activity, sedentary behavior, and mental health. Physical activity included participating in sports, outdoor play, or general physical activity. The duration of physical activity was an important variable.
Mental health was broken into two sub-categories: “psychological ill-being (i.e. depression, stress, negative affect, and total psychological distress) and “psychological well-being (i.e. self-image, satisfaction with life and happiness, and psychological well-being)” (p. 1383).
Sedentary behavior was sub-divided into recreational screen time (such as playing video games or using a mobile phone), non-recreational screen time (such as doing homework on a computer), and non-screen time (such as reading or listening to music).
The authors intended to include studies of children from ages 2-18, divided into preschooler (2-5 years old), children (6-11 years old), and adolescents (aged 12-18). However, there was an insufficient number of studies of preschoolers for most analyses.
Key Findings:
- Small but significant effects were found for the role of physical activity at reducing psychological ill-being and/or improving well-being. In explaining this finding, the authors noted: “larger effects may not be expected due to the good levels of mental health experienced by the majority of young people” (p. 1394).
- The length of time spent engaging in physical activity was relevant to outcomes: “participants who met the physical activity recommendations (≥ 60 min/day) significantly improved their overall mental health” (p. 1398). Team sports participation was an important form of physical activity.
- More sedentary behavior was associated with “higher depression, lower life satisfaction and lower happiness in children and adolescents” (p. 1402).
- Due to the small number of studies that included children, significant results applied only to the adolescent group or to adolescents and children combined.
Summarizing the evidence presented in this meta-analysis, the authors concluded: “interventions targeting increases in physical activity, and decreases in sedentary behavior, are justified and will support the current and future mental health of children and adolescents” (p. 1405). To better elucidate the connections between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and physical well-being and ill-being, future research needs to include different types of physical activities, be experimental in nature, and include children and preschoolers in the sample.
Rodriguez-Ayllon, M., Cadenas-Sánchez, C., Estévez-López, F., Muñoz, N. E., Mora-Gonzalez, J., Migueles, J. H., … & Esteban-Cornejo, I. (2019). Role of physical activity and sedentary behavior in the mental health of preschoolers, children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 49(9), 1383-1410.
©Jennie Dilworth, Ph.D