REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1579345
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing interventions and therapeutic outcomes for autistic youth: a multidisciplinary perspectiveView all 4 articles
Systematic Review and Randomized Controlled Trial Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Physical Activity Interventions and Their Components on Repetitive Stereotyped Behaviors in Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Provisionally accepted
Juanjuan Yang1*
Ruixin Li2*- 1Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, Shanghai, China
- 2Hunan University of Finance and Economics, Changsha, Hunan, China
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Objective: To systematically evaluate the effect of exercise intervention and its components on repetitive stereotyped behaviors in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: A computer-based search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, and EMbase databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to exercise interventions for repetitive stereotyped behaviors in patients with ASD. The search covered all available data from the inception of each database until January 2025. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software, methodological quality was assessed using the ROB scale, and publication bias was evaluated using Stata 17.0 software. Results: A total of 20 RCTs were included, comprising 671 patients with ASD. The meta-analysis results showed that exercise intervention had a positive effect on repetitive stereotyped behaviors in patients with ASD (SMD = -0.37, 95% CI: -0.52, -0.21, P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis results indicated that ball sports (SMD = -0.72, 95% CI: -1.09, -0.36, P < 0.001), longer duration (SMD = -0.55, 95% CI: -0.98, -0.12, P < 0.05), moderate to high frequency (SMD = -0.74, 95% CI: -1.05, -0.44, P < 0.001), longer time (SMD = -0.84, 95% CI: -1.26, -0.42, P < 0.001), and group participation (SMD = -0.48, 95% CI: -0.74, -0.21, P < 0.001) might show optimal dose-response relationships. Conclusion: Exercise intervention can effectively improve repetitive stereotyped behaviors in patients with ASD. The components of exercise intervention show a dose-response effect, with the best results likely occurring from ball sports, medium to long durations, moderate to high frequency, longer time, and group participation.
Keywords: Exercise Intervention, exercise components, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Repetitive Stereotyped Behaviors, Meta-analysis
Received: 26 Feb 2025; Accepted: 28 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang and Li. 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) or licensor 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.
* Correspondence:
Juanjuan Yang, Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, Shanghai, China
Ruixin Li, Hunan University of Finance and Economics, Changsha, Hunan, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.