Even Low Levels of Exercise May Prevent Later Depression, Study Finds

Regular leisure-time exercise may reduce the risk of future depression but not anxiety, according to alarge population study published inAJP in Advance. “The majority of this protective effect occurred at low levels of exercise and was observed regardless of [exercise] intensity,” wrote Samuel B. Harvey, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of New South Wales, and colleagues. “Assuming there is no residual confounding in our final m odel and the observed relationship is causal, our results suggest that if all participants had exercised for at least one hour each week, 12% of the cases of depression at follow-up could have been prevented,” the authors wrote. The study drew upon a prospective, Norwegian cohort (33,908 people), having no symptoms of common mental disorder or limiting physical health, to address three questions: 1) Does exercise provide protection against new-onset depression and anxiety? 2) If so, what intensity and total amount of exercise is required to gain protection? 3) What causal mechanisms underlie any association between exercise and later depression and anxiety?In phase 1 of the Health Study of Nord-Trondelag County (HUNT 1), all residents of a rural county in Norway aged 20 years or older were invited to complete questionnaires about their lifestyles and medical histories and undergo a physical exam. As part of the baseline HUNT 1 assessment, participants were asked about depression and anxiety symptoms as well as how...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: anxiety depression exercise HUNT study Samuel B. Harvey Source Type: research