Understanding Variation in Social and Emotional Learning Effects: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Physical Education and Physical Activity

Social and emotional learning (SEL) in physical education and physical activity has received growing attention, but the sources of variation in intervention effects remain unclear. This study synthesized evidence from 46 studies, yielding 210 effect sizes from 9,567 participants, and used meta-regression to examine whether differences in outcomes were associated with grade level, school location, teaching model, and specific instructional features. The overall effect was positive (g = 0.25), but findings varied across studies. Effects were stronger in middle-school and older samples than in elementary-school samples, and they were more pronounced for internal outcomes than for broader behavioral outcomes. Variation was accounted for more consistently by specific instructional features than by broad pedagogical model labels. Emotion regulation training and group-based physical activity were the most stable positive predictors, whereas role-playing was not a reliable positive predictor and competition did not explain unique variance in the final model. Overall, the review suggests that heterogeneity in SEL outcomes in movement-based settings may be better understood in developmental and instructional terms, with stronger effects in older samples underscoring the importance of developmental readiness.