- Physical activity is associated with improved mental health, sleep, cognitive function and quality of life across university students, adolescents and healthy adults in Saudi Arabia.
- Multiple barriers hinder participation: social lack of peer and family support, unfriendly physical environments, and restrictive cultural norms limiting women's access to facilities.
- Evidence base limited by few high quality trials; longitudinal, gender-sensitive studies and evaluations of the Saudi Vision 2030 programme are urgently needed.
Front Psychol. 2026 Aug 7;17:1795785. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1795785. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
The current literature review presents information about the association of PA in connection with the results of mental health from the viewpoint of studies conducted among various samples such as university students, teenagers, and healthy people. This narrative review examines the interrelationships between physical activity (PA), mental health, and the sociocultural environment among diverse populations in Saudi Arabia. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar for studies published through 2025. The findings of the review reveal that PA also positively affects sleep, cognitive functioning, and quality of life. Finally, intervention research reveals a positive effect of PA on emotional, social, and motivational functioning despite the small number of high-quality studies. The factors preventing PA are diverse and may be considered under the umbrella of social (i.e., a lack of peer and family support), environmental (i.e., an unattractive and unfriendly environment) and cultural (i.e., restrictive cultural norms affecting the accessibility of women to sporting facilities) barriers. Although national interventions under the Saudi Vision 2030 program would encourage participation through raising awareness, constructing gyms, and creating a conducive urban environment for this purpose, the current research does not provide insights into the impact of the proposed interventions on the stated outcome variable. There is a need for longitudinal research that would investigate the impact of interventions on different groups (i.e., non-students). Also, no gender-sensitive interventions have been tested so far. The impact of national policy should be studied further as well.
PMID:42630208 | PMC:PMC13493298 | DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1795785
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