Exercise results in childhood ADHD vary with how thinking skills are tested
A review found improvements in inhibitory control and working memory, while results for cognitive flexibility depended on how tests were scored.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The pooled trials favored exercise on tests of inhibitory control and working memory in children with ADHD. Cognitive flexibility results were less consistent. The abstract does not show whether these differences in test performance translated into better classroom functioning, daily behavior or ADHD symptoms, so those broader benefits remain unestablished here.
This abstract-based summary lacks exercise formats, intervention durations and control-group details. Estimates varied with test selection and scoring, limiting interpretation of any single pooled result.
What researchers found
Inhibitory-control test performance
Pooled results favored exercise versus trial controls under both scoring directions; the abstract omits control conditions and assessment timing.
What the tests represent
Inhibitory control concerns holding back a response, while working memory involves keeping information in mind. The review found improvements in both skills regardless of whether better test performance meant a higher or lower score.
Where findings were uncertain
Cognitive flexibility concerns switching between tasks or approaches. Its pooled result was statistically significant only when lower scores meant improvement. The result for tests favoring higher scores was inconclusive, which does not establish an absence of effect.
The original publication
Effects of exercise interventions on executive function in school-aged children with ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Liu R, Wen Z, Han D et al.
BMC Public Health · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41034843
- Record checked
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