Physical activity as a psychosocial strategy for promoting mental health in vulnerable youth

Adolescence is a critical developmental window during which mental health disorders often emerge, yet a substantial proportion of young people-particularly those from socially and economically marginalized backgrounds-face significant barriers to accessing traditional mental health services. Structured physical activity and sport-based interventions have been proposed as a low-cost, non-stigmatizing, and accessible adjunctive strategy for promoting psychological well-being in this population. This narrative review provides a conceptual synthesis of findings from 13 studies that examined the effects of physical activity and sport interventions on mental health outcomes in vulnerable youth. Recognizing the heterogeneity of both the target populations and the intervention approaches, this review proposes a conceptual distinction between three overlapping dimensions of psychological distress disproportionately affecting these youth: (a) internalizing disorders (depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress); (b) externalizing problems (aggression, conduct issues, and substance use); and (c) social and self-evaluative dysfunction (low self-esteem, loneliness, and diminished self-efficacy). Through thematic synthesis of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods evidence, the review identifies four interconnected program characteristics associated with improved outcomes: structured facilitation by trained adults, group-based and team formats, cultural adaptation with family engagement, and sustained, long-term delivery. Findings suggest that sport-based interventions hold considerable promise as a public health strategy for this at-risk group. The available evidence, however, remains heterogeneous across populations, interventions, settings, outcome measures, and study designs, and the findings are therefore primarily hypothesis-generating rather than conclusive. The mental health benefits of sport in this population are proposed to arise from the convergence of relational, psychological, and neurobiological mechanisms rather than from physical exercise alone. These issues await further validation and confirmation in future research.