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Prospective Study of Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Middle-Aged Women
Abstract
Background Although many studies support an inverse association between physical activity (PA) and depressive symptoms, prospective relationships between these variables have been confounded by pre-existing psychological and physical health problems.Methods This study examined the dose-response relationships between self-reported PA and depressive symptoms, using cross-sectional and prospective data from a population-based cohort of middle-aged women who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) between 1996 and 2001. Participants completed three mailed surveys (S1, 1996; S2, 1998; S3, 2001), which included questions about time spent in walking, moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA, and measures of psychological health (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale [CESD-10], and Mental health [MH] subscale of the Short Form 36 survey). Relationships between previous (S1, S2), current (S3), and habitual (S1, S2, S3) PA and "depressive symptoms" were examined, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related variables (n=9207).Results Mean CESD-10 scores decreased, and MH scores increased with increasing levels of previous, current, and habitual activity. Odds ratios for CESD-10 scores > or =10 or MH scores < or =52 at S3 were 30% to 40% lower among women who reported the equivalent of > or =60 minutes of moderate-intensity PA per week, compared with those who reported less PA than this. Women who were in the lowest PA category at S1, but who subsequently reported > or =240 metabolic equivalent minutes (MET.mins) per week had lower odds of CESD-10 scores of > or =10 or MH scores < or =52 at S3 than those who remained in the very low PA category.Conclusions These data suggest that there is a clear relationship between increasing PA and decreasing depressive symptoms in middle-aged women, independent of pre-existing physical and psychological health.
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“Physical activity can protect against incident depression symptoms [21-23]”
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Metadata
- Authors
- BROWN, W., FORD, J., BURTON, N., MARSHALL, A., & DOBSON, A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- BROWN, W
- Venue
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-11
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 265-272
- ISSN
- 0749-3797 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1965410199
- Cited by
- 269
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 6.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Preventive Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Life-span and Life-course Studies › Recreational Sport and Physical Activity
- Keywords
- physical activity, depressive symptoms, middle-aged women, dose-response relationship, walking, moderate physical activity, high-intensity exercise, mental health, Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, prospective cohort
- MeSH terms
- Australia, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Health Status, Humans, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Socioeconomic Factors, Exercise, Confidence Intervals, Odds Ratio
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