Exercise Effects on Student Mental Health: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

A systematic review and network meta-analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials involving 2,127 university students. The study compares the effects of different exercise modalities on depression, anxiety, and stress outcomes, using standardized mean differences and ranking treatments. The work was authored by Zheng Zhao and published on figshare in May 2026.

Use Cases

• Rank exercise modalities for depression treatment based on network meta-analysis results
• Identify optimal session duration for anxiety benefits based on exploratory subgroup analyses
• Compare standardized effect sizes for stress reduction across different exercise types
• Inform mental health promotion program design based on outcome-specific patterns

Strengths

• Analysis includes 25 randomized controlled trials, providing a structured evidence base
• Quantifies effects using standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals
• Follows PRISMA guidelines for systematic review methodology
• Includes exploratory analyses on session duration, intensity, and frequency

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• The effects are noted to have substantial heterogeneity (I² up to 87.6%) and variation in outcome measures

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Google Scholar.

Time Range

Literature searched from inception to 31 October 2025.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-29 04:45:07; freshness should be verified