Exercise may strengthen impulse control in young people with ADHD, but evidence remains uncertain

A meta-analysis of 25 randomised trials found the clearest potential benefit in inhibitory control, while evidence for other executive skills and behavioural symptoms was inconsistent.

A new meta-analysis suggests that physical exercise may help improve one of the core mental skills affected by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and teenagers, but the benefits appear uneven and the evidence remains far from definitive. The review, published in Frontiers in Psychology, pooled results from 25 randomised controlled trials involving 1,116 participants and found the clearest signal for inhibitory control, a key part of executive function involved in stopping impulsive responses and regulating behaviour. The authors also examined internalising symptoms such as anxiety and low mood, externalising symptoms including disruptive behaviour, and other executive skills such as working memory and cognitive flexibility.

The strongest result in the study was for inhibitory control, where the pooled effect reached statistical significance, although the certainty of evidence was rated low. The review also found a statistically significant improvement in internalising symptoms, but the authors rated that evidence as very low certainty. By contrast, the pooled estimates for cognitive flexibility, working memory and externalising symptoms did not reach statistical significance. The authors said the findings point to a possible role for exercise in supporting self-control, but they stressed that the results were highly variable across studies, with wide confidence intervals and limited stability.

That caution is consistent with earlier research. A separate meta-analysis published in Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2024 found that aerobic exercise could improve executive function in children with ADHD, while a 2025 analysis in the Journal of Affective Disorders reported gains in executive function after physical activity interventions. Other reviews have also suggested benefits for attention, behaviour and emotional regulation, but they have differed on which outcomes improve most and on what type, intensity and duration of exercise works best. More recent studies have continued to point in the same direction, with one analysis finding benefits for inhibitory control and working memory, and another suggesting that exercise can affect attention and behavioural problems, though both called for better standardisation in future trials.

Taken together, the literature suggests that movement-based programmes may have a role as a supporting therapy for young people with ADHD, particularly when the goal is to strengthen inhibitory control. Even so, the newest review does not support a simple prescription that exercise will improve every executive skill or behavioural symptom. Its authors and earlier reviewers alike call for larger, better-designed trials with more consistent outcome measures before clinicians can say how much exercise, of what type, should be recommended as part of routine care.