Exercise and mood: A selective review and synthesis of research employing the profile of mood states

Abstract

This paper highlights the use of the Profile of Mood States (POMS) in physical activity research by reviewing and synthesizing literature generated in exercise settings. The results of many studies using the POMS have supported the relationships between exercise and acute mood changes in normal populations and between exercise and chronic mood changes in clinical populations. Based on the multitude of studies utilizing the POMS, Berger and colleagues developed a preliminary taxonomy containing enjoyment, mode, and practice guidelines to help maximize the mood benefits associated with exercise. The POMS also has been employed to identify underlying mechanisms that may promote mood alteration. Unfortunately, there is no conclusive evidence that identifies a single mechanism or group of mechanisms as consistently influencing the exercise-mood relationship. Although knowledge of the relationship between exercise and mood alteration is substantial, much remains to be studied. Promising avenues for future investigation of exercise include mood changes in specific populations, environmental influences on mood alteration, and personal characteristics impacting mood alteration.     

A confirmatory evaluation of the profile of mood states: Convergent and discriminant item validity

The Profile of Mood States was administered to samples of 182 college males, 179 college females, and 257 prison inmates. College males and females did not differ significantly from each other in terms of scale elevation but differed from prison inmates on all scales except Fatigue-Inertia. The college samples differed from the published normative college samples, suggesting the importance of using local norms. A confirmatory item factor analysis suggested convergent item validity with the scoring key and similarity of structure across samples. Discriminant item validity, however, suggested that a smaller number of mood scales would offer a more justifiable interpretation of this inventory.This study was supported by the Alberta Hospital Edmonton, the Solicitor General of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant 410-80-0576-XI.     

Reliability of the bipolar form of the profile of mood states using an alternative test protocol

The bipolar version of Profile of Mood States was completed by 124 participants (58 women and 66 men, M age 26.5, SD=3.9 yr.) on two occasions--once when the measure was self-administered according to that test protocol and once when POMS-BI items were projected onto a screen with participants being asked to provide oral responses to items. Data from both modes of administration provided similar support for the internal consistency of the measure (alpha values ranged from .78 to .90).     

A laboratory task for induction of mood states

One hundred female college students were administered the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A, to provide a measure of primary suggestibility. In a 2nd hr, each S was randomly assigned to one of five individual treatments of 20 Ss each. One group read and concentrated upon 60 self-referent statements intended to be elating: a second group read 60 statements intended to be depressing. A third group read 60 statements which were neither self-referent nor pertaining to mood. This group controlled for the effects of reading and experimental participation per se. Fourth and fifth groups received demand characteristics control treatments designed to produce simulated elation and simulated depression, respectively.

Two measures of pre-treatment mood level were obtained from each S at the beginning other individual treatment. Following treatment, as criteria for elation and depression, seven behavioral task measures were obtained. Four of these distinguished significantly among the treatment groups. The comparative performance of Ss in the three control groups indicated that the obtained mood changes could not be attributed to artifactual effects. Moreover, post-experimental questionnaire data strongly supported the conclusion that Elation and Depression treatments had indeed respectively induced elation and depression.     

Self- and interview-rated negative mood states in schizophrenia: Their convergence and prediction of thought disturbance

This longitudinal study evaluated the relations between self- and interview-rated negative mood in schizophrenics and compared the prognostic utility of these two methods. Thirty schizophrenics who had been stabilized on neuroleptic medications were evaluated with self-report and interview-based measures of mood and symptomatology at an initial assessment and again at 6-month follow-up. Results indicated that measures of self- and interview-rated negative mood showed little agreement at the initial assessment; however, at follow-up, significant convergent correlations between the two methods were obtained. Self-reported negative mood at the initial evaluation predicted the severity of thought disturbance at follow-up, whereas interview-based ratings of mood did not. The results underscore the importance of conducting multimethod assessments of mood and support other research suggesting that self-reported negative mood states may predict course of the illness in schizophrenia.This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grants MH38636 and MH39998 and by a grant from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). Jack J. Blanchard was also supported in part by NIMH Grant MH18932 for the Collaborative Training Program in Schizophrenia Research at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/EPPI. Portions of this research were presented at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, San Francisco, California, November 2, 1990, and at the 3rd International Congress on Schizophrenia Research, Tucson, Arizona, April 22, 1991.     

Selective bias in retrospective self-reports of negative mood states

Retrospective self-report questionnaires of negative mood states experienced in the past (e.g., the most recent two weeks) tend to be exaggerated in a negative direction relative to the average ratings given to the moods contemporaneously. The present study used three measures that decomposed mood states into their constituent elements to examine whether certain components selectively contributed to this negative bias or all components contributed to this bias equally. Fifty-three participants responded to the questionnaires via the Internet every evening for two weeks. On the final day, participants recalled and retrospectively evaluated their mood state over the previous two weeks as a whole. The results revealed that memory bias occurred selectively for negative mood states. Anxiety, depression, and helplessness were exaggerated in the global compared with the daily ratings. None of the positive mood components showed any bias in the retrospective global ratings. A regression analysis indicated that the difference in daily and global ratings for negative mood was partly explained by peak and final scores. Higher peak scores led to greater overestimation whereas final scores had smaller effects; the higher the final score was, the less participants overestimated their negative mood in the global ratings.     

Assessment of mood states: Biases in single-administration assessments

Rasmussen, Jeffrey, Willingham, and Glover (1994) demonstrated that single-administration values derived from the Profile of Mood States (POMS) were biased estimates oftypical mood state. Like the previous study, the present study investigated whether single-administration POMS scores would be similar to average POMS scores derived from multiple administrations. In addition, in this investigation, single-administration instructions directed respondents to estimatetypical mood over a period of time that coincided with the time and duration of the multiple administrations. Subjects rated mood states during two single-administration settings, one before and one just after a multiple administration period. For both single-administration assessments, subjects rated mood relative to “How you have felt for the past 3 days, including today?” During the multiple-administration assessment, subjects rated mood six times a day for 3 days as prompted by preprogrammed wrist monitors. Results were consistent with earlier findings by identifying the bias in single-administration assessments. Initial single-administration values were significantly higher than both the averaged multiple-administration values and the second single-administration scores. These results support the contention that single-administration values from the POMS may provide biased estimates oftypical mood states.     

Standardizing the administration of the Profile of Mood States (POMS): development of alternative word lists

Although standard administration procedures are essential for valid inference making, current Profile and Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1971) protocol forces each examiner, when asked for assistance, to provide subjects extemporaneously with a word or phase that is: (a) synonymous with the original item, (b) located nowhere else on the instrument, and (c) more meaningful to the subject than the original item. The purpose of this article is to describe an empirically based extension of current POMS protocol designed to augment uniformity in administration procedures by providing examiners with a standardized list of alternatives to be referred to when questions concerning the meaning of POMS items arise. A multiphase survey procedure was employed to generate and refine alternative items. A series of alpha (internal consistency) reliabilities, calculated for the POMS subscales after each alternative was substituted, revealed little change in subscale homogeneity resulting from the substitution of the alternatives.     

A preliminary study of hormone replacement therapy and psychological mood states in perimenopausal women

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for perimenopausal women has been suggested to minimize the physical symptoms of menopause and improve mood and psychological functioning; however, the therapy remains controversial. In this study the effects of such therapy (comprising tablets, patches, and implants) on mood states was investigated within a sample of 70 perimenopausal women who were attending a family planning clinic within the Brisbane metropolitan area. On a battery of standardized questionnaires, including the General Health Questionnaire, the Profile of Mood States, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire, those 35 women who were using hormone replacement therapy prescribed by the clinic physician reported significantly lower scores on anxiety, insomnia, and somatic symptoms than did a comparable group of 35 untreated perimenopausal women. These findings provide some tentative support for the beneficial effects of the therapy on physical symptoms and psychological mood states related to the onset of menopause. Given increased life expectancy, there is a growing need for research into issues of aging.     

A model clarifying the role of mediators in the variability of mood states over time in people who stutter

PurposeElevated negative mood states such as social anxiety and depressive mood have been found in adults who stutter. Research is needed to assist in the development of a model that clarifies how factors like self-efficacy and social support contribute to the variability of negative mood states over time.MethodParticipants included 200 adults who stutter. A longitudinal design was employed to assess change in mood states over a period of five months. Hierarchical directed regression (path analysis) was used to determine contributory relationships between change in mood states and self-efficacy, social support, socio-demographic and stuttering disorder variables. Participants completed a comprehensive assessment regimen, including validated measures of mood states, perceived control (self-efficacy) and social support.ResultsResults confirmed that self-efficacy performs a protective role in the change in mood states like anxiety and depressive mood. That is, self-efficacy cushioned the impact of negative mood states. Social support was only found to contribute a limited protective influence. Socio-demographic variables had little direct impact on mood states, while perceived severity of stuttering also failed to contribute directly to mood at any time point.ConclusionsMood was found to be influenced by factors that are arguably important for a person to cope and adjust adaptively to the adversity associated with fluency disorder. A model that explains how mood states are influenced over time is described. Implications of these results for managing adults who stutter with elevated negative mood states like social anxiety are discussed.Educational Objectives: The reader will be able to describe: (a) the method involved in hierarchical (directed) regression used in path analysis; (b) the variability of mood states over a period of five months; (c) the nature of the mediator relationship between factors like self-efficacy and social support and mood states like anxiety, and (d) the contribution to mood states of socio-demographic factors like age and education and stuttering disorder variables like stuttering frequency and perceived severity.     

Effects of negative mood states on risk in everyday decision making

How does negative mood affect risk taking? A brief questionnaire was used to measure state anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and a daily mood diary allowed state and trait (average level) mood to be separated. Studies 1 and 2 used natural moods and Study 3 a mood induction procedure. Risk was assessed using hypothetical everyday choice scenarios. Study 1 showed that riskiness was affected by state fatigue, but not by anxiety and depression. Study 2 showed that increased riskiness over a two - week period was predicted by fatigue changes, after controlling for riskiness and trait and state mood at time 1. Fatigue effects were stronger for more important scenarios, and when state anxiety was also high. In Study 3, covariance analyses showed that the observed increased in riskiness was related to induced fatigue, rather than to anxiety or depression. The effects are discussed in relation to the literature on fatigue effects, and models of mood and cognition.     

Effects of daily events on mood states in major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by high negative affect (NA) and low positive affect (PA), but little is known about emotional reactivity in daily life. The authors used experience sampling methodology to investigate changes in NA and PA following minor daily events in MDD compared with healthy participants. Contrary to expectation, MDD participants did not report more frequent negative events, although they did report fewer positive events. Multilevel regression showed that both NA and PA responses to negative events were blunted in the MDD group, whereas responses to positive events were enhanced. NA responses to negative events persisted longer in MDD participants. Depressed participants with a positive family history or longer current episodes showed relatively greater NA responses to negative events.     

Systematic review of stress-related injury vulnerability in athletic and occupational contexts

Injury is a pervasive, expensive and, to some extent, preventable problem. Stress is a psychological risk factor for injury but little is known about how stress processes compare in athletic and occupational contexts. This paper reviews research on stress-related injury vulnerability in athletic and occupational contexts to characterize and compare samples, methods, and conclusions from the perspective of an integrated model of stress-related injury vulnerability. A comprehensive search of four major databases identified research in both athletic (n = 34) and occupational contexts (n = 22). Studies were coded to extract characteristics of the samples, research designs, measures, and conclusions about stress-injury relations. Studies used more prospective than cross-sectional or case control research designs. Injury was most frequently defined as missing one subsequent day of training or work (35.7%). Approximately 75% of the identified studies in each context indicated a positive association between stress and injury occurrence. The consistency of findings suggested a robust stress-related injury vulnerability for both exposures and responses, however, caution is warranted due to the diversity of measures and surveillance periods and the lack of experimental designs. New hypotheses are identified to refine models of stress-related injury vulnerability in athletic and occupational contexts.     

Factors in athletic achievement: reply to Van Rossum (2004)

Several lines of evidence have questioned the contribution of innate talents to achievement. Nonetheless, it is also apparent that belief in talent is still common and affects perceptions that athletes form about themselves and fellow competitors about different levels of achievement.     

A review of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is quantitatively the most abundant hormone in humans and mammals, with a wide variety of physiological effects, including major regulatory effects upon the immune system. Two of the most striking aspects of DHEA are a steady decline in DHEA with age and a significant deficiency in DHEA in patients with several major diseases, including cancer, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. The hormone is secreted in a non-sulfated (DHEA) and sulfated form (DHEA-S). The two are apparently interchangeable, and it appears likely that its physiological effects are achieved by derivative molecules that have yet to be identified.