This systematic review and meta‐analysis examined studies on the chronic effects of exergames on muscle strength in humans. PubMed, Scopus, CENTRAL, Web of Science, SciELO, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde, and Google Scholar were searched, and manual searches of the reference lists of included studies and hand‐searches on Physiotherapy Evidence Database and ResearchGate were conducted from inception to August 10, 2020. Randomized and non‐randomized exergame intervention studies with or without a non‐exercise group and/or a “usual care intervention group” (any other intervention that did not incorporate exergames), which evaluated muscle strength through direct measurements, were included. Forty‐seven and 25 studies were included in the qualitative review and meta‐analysis, respectively. The between‐groups meta‐analyses showed no significant differences between exergames and non‐exercise control groups for handgrip strength in heathy/unhealthy middle‐aged/older adults or knee extension maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) in healthy older adults. However, exergames provided a greater increase in handgrip strength, knee flexion MVIC, and elbow extension MVIC, but not knee extension MVIC or elbow flexion MVIC, in individuals with different health statuses when compared to usual care interventions. Also, there was a greater increase in handgrip strength in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy favouring usual care plus exergames compared to usual care interventions. These results suggest that exergames may improve upper and lower limb muscle strength in individuals with different heath statuses compared to usual care interventions, but not muscle strength in middle age/older adults after accounting for random error. Also, exergames appear to be a useful tool for improving handgrip strength in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy when added to usual care. However, as the exergame interventions were applied in different populations and there currently are many different approaches to perform exergames, future randomized controlled trials with high methodological quality and large sample sizes are needed to provide more compelling evidence in favour of a specific exergame protocol, or to elucidate exergame protocol design principles that appear to strongly influence outcomes.

Although significant increases in gaming may not always be beneficial, exergames (a new generation of video games also known as exergaming or active video games) appear as an alternative, feasible, attractive, and safe way to perform physical exercise for most clinical and nonclinical populations. Therefore, it is important to recognize that exergames can be considered a useful tool for coping with the COVID-19 outbreak and the recommended social distancing period.

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Purpose This study compared the acute effects of an exergame-based calisthenics (EXG) session versus a traditional calisthenics (TC) session on state anxiety levels in healthy adult men, and compared the mean heart rate, number of repetitions performed, enjoyment, and affective valence reported by the participants between sessions. Methods Thirty-six young adult men performed two 30-min sessions of physical exercise in random order (EXG and TC). The same exercise protocol was used for each session; however, the TC session was guided by an exercise science professional. State anxiety was assessed before and immediately after each session. Heart rate was monitored during the sessions. Enjoyment and affective valence were assessed immediately after the sessions. In addition, the number of repetitions performed was recorded. Results There was no significant interaction between sessions (EXG vs. TC) and time (pre vs. post-session) ( p = 0.102), no significant effect of session ( p = 0.587), and no significant effect of time ( p = 0.121). Participants presented a higher mean heart rate (+ 3.5%, p = 0.020) and number of repetitions performed (+ 43.7%, p < 0.001) in the TC session compared with the EXG session. There was no difference in enjoyment ( p = 0.804) and affective ( p = 0.195) valence between the EXG and TC sessions. Conclusion The EXG and TC sessions did not reduce state anxiety levels. Nor did they increase enjoyment or affective valence in healthy young adult men. However, the TC session evoked a higher mean heart rate and higher training volume than the EXG session. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11332-021-00841-9.

This study compared the exergame beach volleyball’s acute effects on state anxiety level in single vs. multiplayer mode in adult men. Sixty adult men (age: 21.98 [4.58] years, body mass: 75.40 [15.70] kg, height: 1.77 [0.09] m, and body mass index: 24.19 [5.44] kg/m2; data are expressed as median [interquartile range]) were assigned to play exergame of beach volleyball in single- or multiplayer mode for approximately 30 min using the Xbox 360 Kinect®. The state anxiety level was evaluated before and after the intervention. There was no significant difference in the state anxiety levels after an exergame session between the single and multiplayer modes (p-value = 0.407, effect size (rB) = −0.12, defined as small). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the state anxiety levels before and after an exergame session in single-player mode (p-value = 0.516, effect size (d) = 0.14, defined as trivial) and multiplayer mode (p-value = 0.053, rB = 0.43, defined as medium). In conclusion, state anxiety level after exergame beach volleyball did not differ between the single and multiplayer modes in adult men.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of mood disorders in Brazilian soldiers. Methods: A total of 353 soldiers answered the following questionnaires: the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Profile of Mood States (POMS), the medical outcomes study SF-36 questionnaire, the Baecke questionnaire to assess the level of habitual physical activity (HPA) and the socioeconomic (SE) status questionnaire. Participants were classified according to their desire to pursue a military career. Results: Accordingly, 246 participants were allocated to a volunteer group (VG) and 107 to a non-volunteer group (NVG). According to the BDI data for both groups, 66.5% of the soldiers showed at least mild depressive symptoms. Additionally, the STAI data revealed that 27.8% and 8.4% of the soldiers showed high scores on state anxiety and trait anxiety, respectively. The POMS scores were higher in the NVG compared to the VG (Δ% = +263%, p < 0.0001). Of the eight subscales, the SF-36 questionnaire showed statistical differences between the groups in the following five dimensions: functioning capacity (p = 0.0046), pain (p = 0.0011), vitality (p < 0.0001), role limitations due to emotional problems (p < 0.0001) and mental health (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Mood disorder levels were higher and health status and related quality of life levels were lower in the NVG as compared to the VG.

Considering that exposure to unpleasant pictures taken from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS) has a more significant impact on anxiety than exposure to pleasant and neutral pictures, we investigated changes in state anxiety levels and heart rate responses in healthy women following exposure to three blocks of unpleasant pictures from the IAPS. Thirty-seven healthy women visited the lab three times, separated by a gap of 24–72 hours. Anxiety levels were assessed using the State Anxiety Inventory before and after participants viewed the blocks of unpleasant IAPS pictures, while the heart rate was continuously monitored throughout each session by a heart rate monitor. We found extreme evidence (BF10 = 7.53*108) for the changes in the participants’ state anxiety after viewing IAPS unpleasant pictures, although there was ambiguous evidence (BF01 = 2.642) favoring similar changes in state anxiety and ratings of pleasure (BF01 = 1.567), arousal (BF01 = 2.609), and dominance (BF01 = 1.954) between the three blocks of unpleasant pictures used. Moreover, we found moderate evidence (BF01 = 7.449) favoring similar mean heart rates between the three blocks of unpleasant pictures. These findings reveal that exposure to unpleasant pictures can act as an anxiogenic stimulus used to induce experimental anxiety.