Physical Activity Improves Mental Health in Children and Adolescents Irrespective of the Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)—A Multi-Wave Analysis Using Data from the KiGGS Study

Parisa Ganjeh, Thomas Meyer, York Hagmayer, Ronny Kuhnert, Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer, Nicole von Steinbuechel, Aribert Rothenberger and Andreas Becker
Additional contact information
Parisa Ganjeh: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Thomas Meyer: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
York Hagmayer: Department of Cognitive Science and Decision Psychology, Georg Elias Müller Institute of Psychology, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Ronny Kuhnert: Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Nicole von Steinbuechel: Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Aribert Rothenberger: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
Andreas Becker: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37075 Göttingen, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: Physical activity (PA) may have positive effects on mental health in children and adolescents. This post hoc study aimed to further investigate the relationship between different frequency levels of PA and general mental health as well as specific hyperactivity/inattention symptoms in children and adolescents. Methods: The analyses were based on data drawn from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) study, a regularly conducted large-scale, epidemiological investigation of somatic and mental health of children and adolescents in Germany. Parents were asked about their children’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) records and answered questionnaires concerning any mental health problem behavior of the children and adolescents using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The overall problem score as well as the hyperactivity/inattention symptoms subscale (SDQ-H/I) were entered as outcomes in a regression model controlling for parental socio-economic status and participants’ sex, age, and body mass index (BMI). Cross-sectional analyses were conducted at three time points of the KiGGS study (baseline, wave 1, and wave 2) using general linear models (GLM). This was performed for different age groups (4–5, 6–9, 10–17 years). Results: Significant negative relationships were found between PA and general mental health problems. For the relationship between PA and SDQ-H/I, different patterns emerged at the three time points. There was no interaction between PA frequency levels and diagnosis of ADHD (ADHD vs. non-ADHD controls) regarding the SDQ total score. Conclusion: This study underlines the importance of a high frequency level of PA for a good mental health status among children and adolescents, irrespective of the diagnosis of ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD; adolescents; children; KiGGS; long-term effects; mental health; physical activity; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2207/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2207/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2207-:d:504698

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().