Psychological outcomes of primary-school physical education interventions: a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis.

Authors

Lebin Li, Yao Huang, Di Zhang, Jiaqing Meng

Published in

Frontiers in psychology. Volume 17. Pages 1962805. Epub Oct 07, 2026.

Abstract

Physical education (PE) offers opportunities for psychological learning, but evidence of benefit depends on the outcome, design, and instructional context.
This systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis included 74 reports from 70 trial families of primary-school PE interventions. Four databases covered English-language reports published from January 2000 through 31 May 2026. Randomized and nonrandomized controlled studies were distinguished from uncontrolled pre -post and short-term within-child designs. Multilevel models addressed dependent effects, with trial-family CR2 inference.
Source-informed controlled analyses contained five core social-emotional effects from three families (g = 0.947, 95% CI [-0.774, 2.667]; Holm-adjusted p = 0.424) and 13 adjacent psychological effects from five families (g = 0.215, 95% CI [-0.386, 0.817]; Holm-adjusted p = 0.424). Model-based prediction intervals were [-2.387, 4.280] and [-1.368, 1.799], respectively. The broader controlled analysis, requiring additional variance or clustering assumptions, included 126 effects from 28 families and yielded g = 0.381, 95% CI [0.135, 0.627].
The broader and combined source-informed estimates were similar (g = 0.381 and 0.421, respectively), although the latter was less precise; because the analyses overlap, they do not provide independent confirmation of benefit. The primary estimates remain too uncertain to define a dependable average benefit, rather than demonstrating that benefits are absent. Positive broader evidence warrants attention alongside substantial heterogeneity, source-reporting limitations, and an inconclusive exploratory small-study diagnostic. Future trials should align psychological targets, instructional content, implementation measures, and validated outcomes, and report allocation-aware uncertainty.

PMID:
42908619
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Oct 2026.

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