Table 3.
Characteristics of the cross-sectional studies that were included in the meta-analysis.
| References | Population | Main diagnosis | N | Mean age (SD) | Sex (% female) | Ethnicity | Education | SA assessment | PA assessment | Control group treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashdown-Franks et al. (2017) | NCL | NA | 781 | 20.34 (0.71) | 55.2 | NR | High school students | Two items: (i) “A time when you felt very afraid or really shy meeting new people, going to parties, going on a date” and (ii) “A time when you felt very afraid or uncomfortable when you had to do something in front of a group of people (giving a speech, speaking in class)” | IPAQ | NA |
| Atalay and Gençöz (2008) | NCL | NA | 118 | 20.07 (1.63) | 100 | NR | Higher education degree or college diploma | LSAS-SR | Time and mode of physical exercise | NA |
| Benau et al. (2020) | NCL | NA | 297 | 19.3 (2.24) | 63.4 | Caucasian (79%), African-American (12%), Hispanic (3%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2%), Native American/Native Alaskan (<1%), other (2%) | Higher education degree or college diploma | SPIN | Athletic participation | NA |
| Dimech and Seiler (2010) | NCL | NA | 201 | 7.72 (0.67) | 50.8 | Swiss nationals (88.6%) or possessed dual citizenships | Primary school students | SPAIK | Sport participation | NA |
| Dong et al. (2018) | NCL | NA | 4,334 | <18 or ≥18 years old | 53.6 | NR | High school students | LSAS-SR | Physical exercise (days/week) was divided into three grades: 1) 0 day, 2) 1~3 days, and 3) >3 days. | NA |
| Goodwin (2003) | NCL | NA | 5,876 | 15–54 | 49.8 | Caucasian (75.1%), African-American (11.9%), Hispanic (9.5%), other (3.5%) | Less than 8th grade education (19.3%), 9th−11th grade education (35.2%), high school diploma (22%), college degree (23.6%) | CIDI | Verbal queries “How often do you get physical exercise—either on your job or in a recreational activity?” Response choices were: “regularly,” “occasionally,” “rarely,” and “never.” | NA |
| Herring et al. (2014) | CL | SA: n = 375; 16% reported the use of psychotropic medication. | 1,036 | 19.67 (2.95) | 100 | Caucasian (78%), Asian (9%), African-American (8%), Hispanic/Latino (3%), multiracial (2%) | Higher education degree or college diploma | PDSQ | 7dPAR | NA |
| Kim et al. (2020) | NCL | NA | 2230 | 14.58 (NR) | 49.3 | NR | High school students | MINI-KID | Categories of PA: 6–7 days (0, reference), 4–5 days (1), 0–3 days (2) | NA |
| Koç and Dündar (2018) | NCL | NA | 382 | NR | 49.7 | NR | Secondary school students | SAS | PA was divided in doing and not doing sports | NA |
| Özşahin and Altinas (2018) | NCL | NA | 224 | 18–56 | 100 | NR | NR | LSAS-SR | Exercise for weight loss | NA |
| Ren and Li (2020) | NCL | NA | 1,606 | 11.67 (1.94) | 49.7 | Asian | Primary school students | SASC | PARS-3 | NA |
| Rocha et al. (2014) | NCL | NA | 87 | 25.95 (1.75) | 37.9 | NR | Higher education degree or college diploma | K-MPAI | A questionnaire to assess PA habits | NA |
| Üstün and Yapici (2019) | NCL | NA | 200 | 16.29 (1.11) | 50 | NR | High school students | SAS-A | The weekly duration/day of doing sports, the aim for doing sports | NA |
7dPAR, 7-Day Physical Activity Recall (Dishman and Steinhardt, 1988); CIDI, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO, 1990); CL, clinical (Connor et al., 2000); IPAQ, The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (Craig et al., 2003); K-MPAI, Kenny MPA Inventory Questionnaire (Rocha et al., 2011); LSAS-SR, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report (Liebowitz et al., 1985; Fresco et al., 2001); MINI-KID, Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (Sheehan et al., 2010); N, sample size; NA, not applicable; NCL, non-clinical; NR, not reported; PA, physical activity; PARS-3, Physical Activity Rating Scale (Liang, 1994); PDSQ, the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (Zimmerman et al., 1999); SA, social anxiety; SAS, The Social Anxiety Scale (Özbay and Palanci, 2001); SASC, Social Anxiety Scale for Children (La Greca et al., 1988), originally adapted from the Social Anxiety Scale for Children–Revised (La Greca and Stone, 1993); SD, standard deviation; SPAIK, The German Version (SPAIK) of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C; Melfsen et al., 2001); SPIN, Social Phobia Inventory (Connor et al., 2000).