The Influence of Physical Activity on Self-Esteem in the Educational Context: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Self-esteem can be defined as the evaluation that a subject makes of him/herself in favour of a satisfactory, healthy
and adaptive self-image. The concern for adequate self-esteem has led to the appearance of different lines of research, including Physical Activity and Physical Education. In this sense, several studies have addressed the benefits of Physical Activity in the educational environment on self-esteem, although there are few studies that gather conclusive results. For this reason, we present a systematic review, based on the PRISMA method, with the aim of identifying and analysing the programmes that have been carried out in relation to the work on self-esteem and physical activity in the Primary and Secondary Education stages. The databases Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Eric and PsycInfo were used for this review. Following a blind peer review of the quality of the papers, using the Standard Quality Assessment Criteria for Evaluating Primary Research Papers from a Variety of Fields, 10 articles were selected. The findings showed the positive influence of physical activity in education, either through planned programmes for the improvement of this variable or the simple
performance of physical activity. The scarcity of research in this regard shows the need for further progress in this field, and in light of the results obtained, it seems necessary to create educational contexts, programmes and studies that promote the psychosocial well-being of students.