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Cited by 243Physical Activity and HealthMotivation and Self-Concept in SportsSports and Physical Education Studies

Physical activity and mental health: evidence is growing

Open access
Biddle, Stuart·2016·World Psychiatry
DOI 10.1002/wps.20331PMC PMC4911759
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Abstract

Physical activity should be viewed as a continuum ranging from virtually no movement at all (e.g., sedentary behaviour or sitting time) through light physical activity (e.g., light ambulation) to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, MVPA (e.g., exercise, playing sports, cycling to work). While it is often MVPA and “exercise” that are considered to be associated with better mental health, we should not rule out the positive changes that can occur from lower down the continuum. It is also important to note that people have widely varying preferences for the types of activity they wish to engage in. Some of the mental health benefits may be associated with doing something people “want to” and enjoy. We should not be too prescriptive, therefore, concerning the types of activity we recommend for mental health. In the expanding literature on physical activity and mental health, researchers have addressed the effects of both single bouts and programs of physical activity. In addition, a wide variety of psychological outcomes have been studied, including effects on mood, self-esteem, cognitive functioning and decline, depression, and quality of life. “Exercise makes you feel good” is a common assumption and refers to often-reported psychological effects of single bouts of physical activity, such as walking or structured exercise. While mood enhancement has been well documented, this can be dependent on the intensity of exercise undertaken. While more moderate levels often lead to the reporting of pleasure and positive mood, more intense forms of exercise may lead to displeasure, although such feelings will subside with time after exercise1. Such findings have implications for promoting physical activity. If we want more people to lead physically active lives, it may be better to avoid very high levels of exercise intensity. It is often believed that physical activity, such as sport, can boost self-esteem. However, the nature of participation will affect whether self-esteem is elevated or even decreased. It is likely that changes in global self-esteem through physical activity will be from changes in aspects of the physical self, including improvements in skills and competence, body image, and physical fitness. Indeed, the association between physical activity and global self-esteem is small (meta-analytic effect size d=0.23)2, but at the level of physical self-worth or even body image these associations would expect to increase. The argument that physical activity can positively affect cognitive functioning is a powerful one. This has been used to advocate for more physical activity in schools, as well as in older adults to ameliorate or prevent cognitive decline. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining exercise training studies in adults aged 55-80 years found that exercise was associated with enhanced cognitive functioning, especially for tasks involving more complex executive functioning3. A meta-analysis of prospective studies found that baseline measures of physical activity predicted the risk of overall dementia and Alzheimer's disease4: the most active groups showed a 28% risk reduction for dementia and 45% risk reduction for Alzheimer's disease compared to the least active. Dishman et al5 assessed whether it is possible to state that there is a causal link between physical activity and cognitive decline. They used the five factors of strength of association, temporal sequencing, consistency, dose-response, and plausibility. It was concluded that there is increasing evidence suggestive of a causal link between physical activity and reduced risk of cognitive decline. However, there is a great deal of research still needed to increase our confidence that this conclusion is robust. The most widely studied area of physical activity and mental health is that concerning depression. This has been researched as a transient sub-clinical mood effect or in populations with, or at risk of, clinical depression. For example, Dishman et al5 reported 20-33% lower odds of depression for active groups in prospective cohort studies. While the evidence has nearly always been suggestive of beneficial effects of physical activity on depression, media coverage, or the promotion of findings by journals, has sometimes been less positive. For example, the BMJ headline in 2001 suggested that exercise was not effective for the treatment of depression. This was based on a meta-analysis of 14 studies6. Yet, the meta-analysis showed a large effect size (−1.1) for exercise compared to no-treatment. The authors stated that the effectiveness of exercise in reducing symptoms of depression “cannot be determined because of lack of good quality research on clinical populations with adequate follow up”. However, the results were similar to other therapies for depression. The results of the TREAD trial7 also led to media-reported doubt about exercise for depression. This was a two-arm RCT with both arms receiving usual

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Authors
Biddle, S.
Affiliations
Victoria University (AU)
Corresponding author
Biddle, Stuart
ORCID
Biddle, Stuart
Venue
World Psychiatry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2016-06
Volume
15
Issue
2
Pages
176-177
ISSN
  • 1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
  • 2051-5545
DOI
10.1002/wps.20331
PMC
PMC4911759
OpenAlex
W2471796279
Cited by
243
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5
FWCI
7.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 4 d)
Locations
  • World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Victoria University Research Repository (Victoria University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports
  • Social Sciences › Life-span and Life-course Studies › Sports and Physical Education Studies
Keywords
physical activity, mental health, sedentary behavior, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, exercise intensity, mood, self-esteem, body image, cognitive function, cognitive decline, depression, quality of life, exercise program, older adults, physical activity promotion, enjoyment of physical activity, physical self-worth, physical fitness, school-based physical activity

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