The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Objective: The purpose of this review was to examine the treatment effect of physical exercise on depressive symptoms for adolescents aged 13 to 17 years. Method: A systematic search of 7 electronic databases identified relevant randomized controlled trials. Following removal of duplicates, 543 t...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsiever
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35399/ |
| _version_ | 1848795068316516352 |
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| author | Carter, Tim Morres, Ioannis Meade, Oonagh Callaghan, Patrick |
| author_facet | Carter, Tim Morres, Ioannis Meade, Oonagh Callaghan, Patrick |
| author_sort | Carter, Tim |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objective: The purpose of this review was to examine the treatment effect of physical exercise on depressive symptoms for adolescents aged 13 to 17 years.
Method: A systematic search of 7 electronic databases identified relevant randomized controlled trials. Following removal of duplicates, 543 texts were screened for eligibility. Screening, data extraction, and trial methodological quality assessment (using the Delphi list) were undertaken by 2 independent researchers. Standardized mean differences were used for pooling postintervention depressive symptom scores.
Results: Eleven trials met the inclusion criteria, 8 of which provided the necessary data for calculation of standardized effect size. Exercise showed a statistically significant moderate overall effect on depressive symptom reduction (standardized mean difference [SMD] = −0.48, 95% CI = −0.87, −0.10, p = .01, I2 = 67%). Among trials with higher methodological scoring, a nonsignificant moderate effect was recorded (SMD = −0.41, 95% CI = −0.86, 0.05, p = .08). In trials with exclusively clinical samples, exercise showed a statistically significant moderate effect on depressive symptoms with lower levels of heterogeneity (SMD = −0.43, 95% CI = −0.84, −0.02, p = .04, I2 = 44%).
Conclusion: Physical exercise appears to improve depressive symptoms in adolescents, especially in clinical samples in which the moderate antidepressant effect, higher methodological quality, and lowered statistical heterogeneity suggest that exercise may be a useful treatment strategy for depression. Larger trials with clinical samples that adequately minimize the risk of bias are required for firmer conclusions on the effectiveness of exercise as an antidepressant treatment. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:26:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-35399 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:26:12Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsiever |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-353992020-05-04T17:52:26Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35399/ The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis Carter, Tim Morres, Ioannis Meade, Oonagh Callaghan, Patrick Objective: The purpose of this review was to examine the treatment effect of physical exercise on depressive symptoms for adolescents aged 13 to 17 years. Method: A systematic search of 7 electronic databases identified relevant randomized controlled trials. Following removal of duplicates, 543 texts were screened for eligibility. Screening, data extraction, and trial methodological quality assessment (using the Delphi list) were undertaken by 2 independent researchers. Standardized mean differences were used for pooling postintervention depressive symptom scores. Results: Eleven trials met the inclusion criteria, 8 of which provided the necessary data for calculation of standardized effect size. Exercise showed a statistically significant moderate overall effect on depressive symptom reduction (standardized mean difference [SMD] = −0.48, 95% CI = −0.87, −0.10, p = .01, I2 = 67%). Among trials with higher methodological scoring, a nonsignificant moderate effect was recorded (SMD = −0.41, 95% CI = −0.86, 0.05, p = .08). In trials with exclusively clinical samples, exercise showed a statistically significant moderate effect on depressive symptoms with lower levels of heterogeneity (SMD = −0.43, 95% CI = −0.84, −0.02, p = .04, I2 = 44%). Conclusion: Physical exercise appears to improve depressive symptoms in adolescents, especially in clinical samples in which the moderate antidepressant effect, higher methodological quality, and lowered statistical heterogeneity suggest that exercise may be a useful treatment strategy for depression. Larger trials with clinical samples that adequately minimize the risk of bias are required for firmer conclusions on the effectiveness of exercise as an antidepressant treatment. Elsiever 2016-05-10 Article PeerReviewed Carter, Tim, Morres, Ioannis, Meade, Oonagh and Callaghan, Patrick (2016) The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 55 (7). pp. 580-590. ISSN 1527-5418 exercise; randomized controlled trial; depression; adolescents; meta-analysis http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856716301708 doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.04.016 doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.04.016 |
| spellingShingle | exercise; randomized controlled trial; depression; adolescents; meta-analysis Carter, Tim Morres, Ioannis Meade, Oonagh Callaghan, Patrick The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title | The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_full | The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_fullStr | The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_short | The effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| title_sort | effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| topic | exercise; randomized controlled trial; depression; adolescents; meta-analysis |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35399/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35399/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35399/ |