Effects of Physical Exercises on Emotion Regulation: A Meta-Analysis

BackgroundAt present, there are inconsistent results in the research on the effect of physical exercise on emotion regulation ability, and there is no relevant research on how to exercise scientificlc. Therefore, on the basis of previous research, this study conducted a meta-analysis on the theme of physical exercise affecting emotion regulation ability according to the statement of PRISMA, and added relevant moderator variables to clarify the effect of physical exercise on emotion regulation ability. ObjectiveWe identified physical exercise studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of emotion regulation ability that reported overall effect, heterogeneity, and publication bias of physical exercises on emotion regulation ability. MethodsWe searched for RCT s of exercise interventions on emotion regulation ability from databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Ebsco, The Cochrane Library, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), and Wanfang, from January 1 2000 to January 1 2022. We performed methodological quality evaluations on the included literature and graded evidence with a meta-analysis using Review Manager 5.3 software. ResultsIn total, 10 RCT s were included; the overall results of the meta-analysis (936participants) indicated that physical exercises improved emotion regulation ability (standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.47; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21 to 0.72; p < 0.05), sensory arousal ability (SMD = 0.70; 95% CI 0.14 to 1.27; p < 0.05), and emotion regulation strategies (SMD = 0.46; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.87; p < 0.05); Subgroup analysis showed that a single exercise of more than 30 minutes can improve emotional regulation ability, which is not affected by exercise intensity, period and the health status of the participants. ConclusionPhysical exercises can effectively improve the emotion regulation ability. The effects are considered as moderate effect sizes. While single exercise time should be at least 30 minutes.Limited by the quantity and quality of the included studies, the above conclusions need to be verified with more high-quality studies. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021217978