Physical activity and the development of general mental health problems or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children and adolescents - Cross-lagged panel analysis of long-term follow-up epidemiological data

Aug 22, 2026

Physical activity (PA) is examined as a low-risk, cost-effective factor for preventing mental health problems in children and adolescents, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Longitudinal analyses used German KiGGS data from over 15,000 participants assessed at three time points across more than 10 years. Parents rated PA using WHO frequency recommendations, and mental health outcomes used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Autoregressive cross-lagged models tested PA–symptom relationships and showed preschool-age PA predicted fewer later general problems and ADHD symptoms (~6 years). Effects did not emerge from preadolescence to adolescence, suggesting age-specific support for PA. Future work should test PA as an add-on in mental-health interventions to improve general well-being and reduce ADHD-related symptoms.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background on child and adolescent mental health burden

Role of epidemiological research

Methods

Data source and study design (KiGGS)

Measures: physical activity and SDQ outcomes

Statistical approach: autoregressive cross-lagged model

Results

Preschool-age associations with later mental health and ADHD symptoms

Lack of effects from preadolescence to adolescence

Conclusion and Future Directions

Implications for interventions and further research

TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 13 September 2022 DOI 10. 3389/fnbeh.2022.933139 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Iris Manor, Geha Mental Health Center, Israel REVIEWED BY Cli􀀀ord Cassidy, University of Ottawa, Canada Francisco Xavier Castellanos, Grossman School of Medicine (NYU), United States *CORRESPONDENCE Parisa Ganjeh [parisa.ganjeh@med.uni-goettingen.de](parisa.ganjeh@med.uni-goettingen.de)[ ](parisa.ganjeh@med.uni-goettingen.de)†These authors share senior authorship SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Pathological Conditions, a section of the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience RECEIVED 30 April 2022 ACCEPTED 08 August 2022 PUBLISHED 13 September 2022 CITATION Ganjeh P, Hagmayer Y, Meyer T, Kuhnert R, Ravens-Sieberer U, von Steinbuechel N, Rothenberger A and Becker A (2022) Physical activity and the development of general mental health problems or attention-deﬁcit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children and adolescents: A cross-lagged panel analysis of long-term follow-up epidemiological data. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 16:933139 . doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.933139 COPYRIGHT © 2022 Ganjeh, Hagmayer, Meyer, Kuhnert, Ravens-Sieberer, von Steinbuechel, Rothenberger and Becker. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Physical activity and the development of general mental health problems or attention-deﬁcit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children and adolescents: Across-lagged panel analysis of long-term follow-up epidemiological data Parisa Ganjeh1*, York Hagmayer2 , Thomas Meyer3 , Ronny Kuhnert4 , Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer5 , Nicole von Steinbuechel6 , Aribert Rothenberger1† and Andreas Becker1† 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, 2 Department of Cognitive Science and Decision Psychology, Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute for Psychology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, 3 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, 4 Unit Mental Health, Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany, 5 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, 6 Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany Studies have shown that physical activity (PA) can provide a helpful, low-risk, and cost-e􀀀ective intervention for children and adolescents su􀀀ering from mental health problems. This longitudinal study aimed to assess whether PA prevents the development of mental health problems, such as attention-deﬁcit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. Data were analyzed from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) collected from more than 15.000 children and adolescents at three di􀀀erent time points over a period of more than 10 years. Parents scored the PA of the study participants on three frequency levels according to WHO recommendations, and mental health problems were assessed by means of the Strengths and Di􀀈culties Questionnaire (SDQ) . The total problemscore (SDQ-Total) and the hyperactivity/inattention symptoms sub-scale (SDQ-H/I) were used in an autoregressive cross-lagged model to examine their relationship with PA. The results showed that PA of boys and girls at preschool age was inversely associated with the occurrence of mental

FAQs

What is the main objective of the study?

To evaluate whether physical activity can prevent the development of general mental health problems and ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents over long-term follow-up.

How were physical activity and mental health outcomes measured?

Parents rated physical activity frequency using WHO recommendations, and mental health problems were assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), including total problems and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms.

What did the cross-lagged analysis show about the timing of effects?

Higher physical activity in preschool age was inversely associated with later mental health problems and ADHD symptoms about 6 years later, while effects were not observed from preadolescence to adolescence.

Aug 22, 2026

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