Effect of aerobic exercise on negative affect, positive affect, stress, and depression.

Three groups of subjects, 15 Longer-term Exercisers, 14 Short-term Exercisers, and 18 Nonexercisers completed questionnaires designed to measure negative affect associated with thoughts, negative affect associated with day-to-day experiences, positive affect associated with thoughts, and positive affect associated with day-to-day experiences, depression, and stress. All the subjects also provided a rating of their over-all general stress. The Longer-term Exercisers reported more positive affect associated with their thoughts and day-to-day experiences than the Nonexercisers. There also was a trend for the Longer-term Exercisers to report less over-all stress than the Nonexercisers.