PMID 40417018

Research
All papers

Experimental research of impact on psychological state for adolescents with high-intensity interval training intervention

Li YT, Zhou Y

Question

Does an 8-week HIIT intervention improve adolescent psychological state more than moderate-intensity continuous training?

Summary

This randomized school-based study compared 8 weeks of short HIIT with moderate continuous training in adolescents from Handan City Sports School. HIIT produced larger improvements in negative affect domains such as tension, depression, and anger and increased self-esteem more than the moderate group. The protocol was brief, frequent, and heart-rate monitored, but the article contains internal reporting inconsistencies and the population was sports-school students rather than a general adolescent sample.

Methodology

  • Sports-school high school students in Handan, China.
  • 60 participants.
  • Running and school exercise movements.
  • Work intervals: About 30 s; <60 s high-intensity periods.
  • Recovery: Recovery until HR <120 bpm; examples include 30 s rest.
  • Intensity: 172 +/- 10 bpm or 85-95% HRmax.
  • About 15 min.
  • 5 sessions/week.
  • 8 weeks.
  • Randomized controlled school-based exercise intervention.
  • Psychological state, Physical fitness, and Exercise intensity were tracked.

Outcomes

Tension, depression, anger

HIIT significantly reduced negative affect domains.

Tension delta 2.1 p=0.002; depression delta 1.5 p=0.008; anger delta 1.9 p=0.001.

Improved

Self-esteem

HIIT increased self-esteem.

Delta 1.7 p=0.004.

Improved

Between-group psychological effects

HIIT was superior to continuous training for tension and depression.

Tension delta 1.8 p=0.00; depression delta 0.8 p=0.017.

Improved

Control group affect

Moderate training showed modest tension and depression improvements but weaker/non-significant effects for anger and self-esteem.

Tension delta 0.9 p=0.03; depression delta 0.6 p=0.04.

Mixed

Insights

  • Short adolescent HIIT may support mood/self-esteem outcomes, but use conservative claims because reporting quality is uneven.
  • For youth, recovery HR thresholds and individual adaptation are important.
  • A 5-days/week protocol is not directly comparable to most consumer HIIT schedules.

Limitations

  • Internal inconsistencies in age, sex table labels, and session-count arithmetic
  • Sports-school sample
  • No long-term follow-up
  • Adverse events not clearly reported
  • Single location

Safety

  • No specific adverse events were reported.
  • Safety screening, HR monitoring, RPE, and HR recovery thresholds were described.