Global research trends in nature-based physical activity and outdoor recreation for adolescents (2001–2026): a bibliometric analysis with qualitative synthesis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15561/26649837.2026.0503Keywords:
adolescen, nature-based tourism, outdoor recreation, physical activity, bibliometric analysis, science-mapping analysisAbstract
Background and Study Aim. Physical activity and outdoor recreation are crucial aspects of adolescent development. Over the past two decades, both have declined due to digitalization, which has contributed to a sedentary lifestyle. Understanding global research trends in physical activity and nature-based outdoor recreation among adolescents may help to characterize the development of this research field over time. The present study aimed to describe the growth in publication volume, identify the most influential collaborative networks of researchers and countries, and map global research trends on physical activity and nature-based outdoor recreation in adolescents over a quarter century (2001–2026). Materials and Methods. A bibliometric review with qualitative synthesis was used in this study. The bibliographical data were extracted exclusively from the Scopus database using the keyword combination ((“outdoor recreation" OR "nature-based tourism”) AND (“physical activity" OR "exercise”) AND ("health" OR "well-being") AND (adolescent* OR youth*)). A total of 295 articles that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed using the VOSviewer application. The research trends identified were then critically analyzed through the theoretical lens of McKenzie's six adventure education programming elements. Results. The results of the keyword network visualization identified from the co-occurrence analysis showed four main clusters, in which Cluster III (blue) became the main and most influential research epicenter, with the keyword “Human” as the center of gravitation of the entire network. Collaboration groups of researchers and countries were presented in the results of the co-authorship analysis, and the similarity of authors in the use of references was presented in the results of the bibliographic coupling analysis. Conclusions. Overall, the results of the bibliometric analysis and science mapping from 2001 to 2026 revealed that global research trends on physical activity and nature-based outdoor recreation in adolescents adopted McKenzie's four elements, namely the participant, activities, physical environment, and processing. The dominance of these four elements indicated that the scientific literature was dominated by psychophysiological and socio-demographic approaches focusing on evaluating the impact of activity interventions on individuals. This finding raised a critical theoretical gap due to the neglect of the instructor and group elements, indicating that future research must begin to shift the focus from just the individual to examining the role of the instructor and group dynamics in making physical activity and outdoor recreation programs successful for adolescents.References
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