ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Education and Pedagogy
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1646805
This article is part of the Research TopicBuilding Health Through Physical Activity in Schools - Volume IIView all 18 articles
Psychosocial Well-Being in Middle Schoolers: Effects of a School Cycling Program in the Wake of COVID-19
Provisionally accepted
Starla Murillo1
Ashtyn Philipsheck2
Fletcher Dementyev2
Benjamin Bello-Soto2
Eshan Bhatt2
Hunter Wilson2Kai Madison2
Lauren Schuck3Seth A Wiafe4
Cian L Brown5
Esther J Walker3
SEAN M WILSON2*- 1University of Redlands, Redlands, United States
- 2School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, United States
- 3Outride, Morgan Hill, United States
- 4Loma Linda University School of Public Health, Loma Linda, United States
- 5University of Oklahoma Department of Educational Psychology, Norman, United States
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The impact of the Riding for Focus (R4F) school-based cycling program and key risk factors on middle school students' mental health was evaluated following COVID-19 lockdowns. Adolescents face growing mental health challenges that the R4F program aims to address by promoting physical activity and well-being. The study surveyed students from 31 U.S. schools, assessing mental health via the WHO-5 Well-Being Index and PSC-17-Y checklist. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA with Dunn's test) and effect size calculations (Cohen's d) were used; clinical risk assessments employed Fisher's Exact Test and Koopman scores with established cutoff values. Modifiable risk factors analyzed included physical activity, sleep, screen time, and breakfast habits. Linear regression evaluated dose-response relationships between these factors and wellness scores. Participation in R4F was linked to a modest 5% boost in WHO-5 well-being scores; however, PSC-17-Y scores also increased slightly, contrary to previous findings, indicating more reported symptoms. Differences in outcomes were seen across gender and race/ethnicity. Notably, modifiable risk factors such as sleep, screen time, and physical activity showed clear dose-response relationships with mental health metrics. Results suggest the R4F program may support adolescent mental health, though outcomes vary by demographic and lifestyle factors, highlighting a need for targeted, individualized interventions in youth populations.
Keywords: WHO-5, PSC-17-Y, adolescent mental health and well-being, school-based physical activity programmes, cycling intervention, Post-pandemic well-being, Modifiable lifestyle factors
Received: 14 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Murillo, Philipsheck, Dementyev, Bello-Soto, Bhatt, Wilson, Madison, Schuck, Wiafe, Brown, Walker and WILSON. 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: SEAN M WILSON, seanwilson@llu.edu
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