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Latest Article

Sports Psychiatry and ADHD: A Vital Link in Neurodevelopment and Performance

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is among the most prevalent neurodevelopmental conditions in both childhood and adolescence. ADHD is associated with significant academic, emotional, and functional impairment. In clinical practice, pharmacotherapy and behavioral interventions remain foundational. However, physical activity and structured sports participation represent underutilized, evidence-based adjuncts for symptom regulation, emotional resilience, and long-term health. Meta-analytic evidence demonstrates that exercise improves attention, executive functioning, and core ADHD symptoms. Newly emerging literature highlights the moderating role of family context and access disparities. Sports psychiatry provides a translational framework integrating mental health treatment with performance optimization, injury recovery, and psychosocial development. Adopting a neurodiversity-informed, biopsychosocial lens allows clinicians to leverage movement as a regulatory and strengths-based intervention rather than solely a symptom target. This article synthesizes epidemiologic trends, exercise science, parenting influences, and sports psychiatry principles to offer practical clinical strategies for psychiatrists counseling families and youth. Emphasizing physical activity as a core component of holistic ADHD care may enhance resilience, engagement, and lifelong mental health trajectories.

Ms Cristando is a recent graduate from the University of Nevada, Reno with a BS in Psychological Science and a minor in Addiction Treatment Services. She previously worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Cognition, Affect and Psychopathology Lab conducting research regarding women’s health and trauma-related reactivity.

Tom Hildebrandt, PsyD

Dr Hildebrandt is a clinician and researcher with Mount Sinai, specializing in adolescents and adults with weight disorders along with neuroendocrine and hormonal contributions to eating and substance use disorders. He is also a professor of psychiatry and of AI and human health.

Dr Ferrier is a family physician working in the Division of Geriatric Medicine of the McGill University Health Centre. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and is the president of the Physicians’ Alliance Against Euthanasia.

Dr Coelho is a public health physician and university hospital assistant at the University Sleep Medicine Unit of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the University Hospital of Bordeaux.

Dr Schwarz is an emergency physician, medical toxicologist, and addiction medicine physician at UCLA. He is the medical toxicology fellowship director.

Dr Dragonetti is on the faculty at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Sasidhar Gunturu, MD, DFAPA

Dr Gunturu is the vice chairman of Education, Research, and Faculty Development and the psychiatry residency director at BronxCare Health System in New York City. He is also an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and clinical associate professor at St. George’s University School of Medicine.

Dr Lavingia is a PGY-4 psychiatry resident at the University of Pittsburgh. Her clinical and research interests include women’s mental health and consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Prof Vita is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Brescia, the chair of the psychiatric clinic, and director of the Department of Mental Health of Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia.