Effects of exercise on anxiety: A review

Abstract

The focus of this review is physical exercise and its possible effectiveness as a means of reducing anxiety. This review is based on English language literature and covers the time period from 1958 to 1988. It provides an overview of the results of research studies carried out in the area of physical fitness and psychological health, more specifically anxiety. In doing so, it draws attention to methodological limitations associated with a number of these research studies. In addition, it describes the level of exercise considered necessary to achieve improved cardio-respiratory fitness (training effect). Conclusions are made which suggest mild support for the positive effect of exercise with some individuals for reducing anxiety. Some speculative explanations as to why exercise may be effective in reducing levels of state anxiety are discussed.     

Testing compensatory health beliefs in a UK population

Compensatory health beliefs, beliefs that healthy behaviours can compensate or neutralise unhealthy behaviours, have been proposed as one way of understanding why people engage in health-risk behaviours (Knäuper, B., Rabiau, M., Cohen, O., & Patriciu, N. (2004). Compensatory health beliefs scale development and psychometric properties. Psychology and Health, 19, 607–624). However, measuring compensatory health beliefs has proved a challenge, with several recent studies being unable to replicate the psychometric properties of Knäuper et al.'s (2004) scales. The aims of this study were to: (1) test the factor structure of the compensatory health beliefs scale in the UK, (2) examine the predictive validity of the scale by testing the relationships between compensatory health beliefs and health behaviours over a six-month time interval and (3) assess the 6-month test–retest reliability of the scale. A total of 393 participants completed measures of compensatory health beliefs and health behaviours at two time points separated by six months. The findings were potentially problematic for research into compensatory health beliefs: the factor structure was not confirmed, there was little evidence of predictive validity, and test–retest reliability was poor. Further research is required to understand the operation of compensatory health beliefs and to develop the measurement of compensatory health beliefs.     

Effects of photoaging information and UV photo on sun protection intentions and behaviours: A cross-regional comparison

The physical environment is thought to influence walking; however, daily variations in perceived environment have received little attention. The current study sought to examine if key within-person factors (i.e., implementation intentions, social support, affect and self-efficacy) would be associated with walking and if perceived access to supportive environments (e.g., access to nice walking paths) and perceived environmental barriers (e.g., bad weather and safety issues) were uniquely associated with walking after controlling for other constructs. Participants (N?=?14, 50.0% men, 78.6% White, M age?=?59.4?±?6.4) were in the intervention arm of an 8-week controlled trial promoting walking via personal digital assistants. Participants completed electronic surveys twice a day (total entries?=?804) in which they reported brisk walking levels and psychosocial and environmental factors. Multilevel modelling was used to examine within-person variations in constructs as determinants of walking. Results suggested that daily variations in implementation intentions, social support and positive affect were positively associated with walking. Further, perceived access to supportive environments, though not perceived environmental barriers, was positively associated with walking after controlling for other constructs (p?<?0.05). Future research should explore intervention components that target context-specific information about perceived access to supportive environments as part of a broader perspective on intervention development.     

Tired,moody and pregnant? Exercise may be the answer

Negative psychological states such as depression, fatigue and anxiety are experienced by many women during pregnancy. This study examined whether engaging in an exercise programme during pregnancy is associated with improvements in psychological well-being among previously inactive women (n?=?56, M age?=?30.34, SD?=?4.57; M weeks pregnant?=?22.58, SD?=?5.32). Participants completed the Profile of Mood States–Short Form and State Trait Anxiety Scale-Trait version at baseline and after four weeks of exercise. Exercise was assessed using accelerometers and these data were used to determine bouts of 30-min of moderate-to-vigorous exercise. Factorial repeated measures ANOVAs demonstrated that participants who met Canadian guidelines for exercise during pregnancy at week four (n?=?17) experienced significant decreases in depression (p?=?.004, η²?=?.13), anger (p?=?.03, η²?=?.08), tension (p?=?.03, η²?=?.08), fatigue (p?=?.01, η²?=?.10), trait anxiety (p?=?.01, η²?=?.12) and increases in vigour (p?=?.001, η²?=?.19) compared to those who were not meeting guidelines (n?=?39). From a psychological health perspective, these findings highlight the importance of continuing to promote exercise during pregnancy.     

Failure to alter psychophysiological reactivity in type a men with physical exercise or stress management programs

Abstract

Psychophysiological reactivity has been associated with heightened risk of coronary heart disease. Since behavioral processes may contribute to disease etiology, the possibility arises that they might also contribute to disease prevention. The capability of behavioral interventions to modify exaggerated reactivity in Type A men. was therefore, brought under experimental scrutiny. Subjects were 107 male managers. who met the following criteria: (1) no history or current signs of heart disease. (2) presence of Type A behavior pattern, and (3) exaggerated psychophysiological reactivity to mental stress. After matching for age and physical fitness level. participants were randomly assigned to one of three 10-week intervention programs: aerohic training, weight training and cognitive-behavioral stress management. Heart rate and blood pressure were monitored while challenging mental tasks were performed in pre-training and post-training laboratory sessions before and after the intervention programs. Although participants in the two physical activity programs showed the expected physical adaptations, no changes in psychophysiological reactivity were seen in the three groups. This negative result may indicate either that reactivity was not altered owing to the conditions of the present experiment, or that these behavioral interventions are truly without effect.     

The short-term influence of high and low intensity physical exercise on mood

Abstract

This study was designed to replicate and extend previous observations that the acute response to high intensity exercise is an increase in anxiety and other negative feelings. Forty female volunteers were allocated to two conditions—20 exercised at high level (100W) for 1.5 min, while 20 exercised at a low level (ZW). The purpose of the experiment was disguised. Mood was assessed before. during and immediately after exercise, and over a 1.5-min recovery period. Subjects were subsequently divided into highly and moderately fit groups on the basis of cardiac responses to a standard workload. It was found that tensiodanxiety increased immediately after high intensity exercise, declining over the recovery period. A similar pattern was found for mental fatigue. During exercise itself, anxiety diminished in the low but not the high intensity condition, No differences between fitness groups were observed in these patterns, although highly fit subjects reported greater mental vigour and exhilaration than moderately fit subjects following high intensity exercise. The mechanisms that may mediate these responses are discussed.     

Stress management and exercise training in chronic stable angina pectoris

Abstract

Patients suffering from chronic stable angina pectoris were allocated to one of four conditions: stress management training, exercise training, combined stress management and exercise, or waiting list control. Patients undertook an exercise tolerance test before and after intervention, and at follow-up assessment eight weeks later. They also kept a daily diary of the frequency, duration and intensity of all angina episodes, and recorded the amount of medication taken, for the week preceding and the week following intervention, as well as for the eighth week of follow-up. Patients who undertook the combined stress management and exercise programme faired best. They showed sustained gains in achieved workload on the exercise tolerance test at no cost in terms of ischaemia, as measured by ST-segment depression. They also registered less frequent angina attacks following intervention than the exercise only and waiting list control patients, and reported reduced reliance on medication; the latter benefit was sustained at follow-up. These clinical dividends invite further study of combined stress management and exercise training in angina pectoris.     

Acute aerobic exercise improves memory across intensity and fitness levels

ABSTRACT

The present study was designed to examine the impact of exercise intensity and aerobic fitness on free recall, judgments of learning (JOLs), and metacognitive accuracy. In Experiment 1, 30 college students engaged in either (1) no exercise, (2) light exercise (55% of predicted maximal heart rate), or (3) moderate exercise (75% of predicted maximal heart rate) on three different days. In Experiment 2, 29 high-fit students (VO₂ max?≥?70th percentile) and 28 low-fit students (VO₂ max?≤?50th percentile) completed sedentary and light exercise conditions. In both experiments, free recall scores significantly increased in the exercise conditions compared with the sedentary condition, but JOL magnitude and metacognitive accuracy were largely unaffected. These results demonstrate that exercise can improve recall at both light and high intensities, and that the benefit can be obtained by individuals regardless of their fitness level.     

品管圈对卒中偏瘫患者肢体功能锻炼的效果观察

探讨品管圈活动在卒中偏瘫患者肢体功能锻炼中的应用效果。将66例患者随机分为对照组（常规锻炼组）和试验组（品管圈组）,分别行不同模式的功能锻炼。采用康复护理日常生活活动（RNADL）量表分别对其日常生活活动能力（ADL）进行评定。试验组自理能力高于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P〈0．01）,且其依从性与对照组比较,差异有统计学意义（P〈O．05）。品管圈有助于提高卒中偏瘫患者功能锻炼的依从性。