Gender moderates the effect of exercise on anxiety sensitivity
Open accessAbstract
A moderate to vigorous intensity exercise program is emerging as a promising strategy for reducing anxiety sensitivity (AS). Initial evidence suggests that the effects of exercise on mental health outcomes may vary as a function of gender, with men benefitting more than women. Building upon this evidence, the present study tested the hypothesis that the effect of exercise on AS would vary as a function of gender, such that the effect would be stronger for men than for women. We tested this hypothesis using the data from a published study (Smits, Berry, Rosenfield, et al., 2008). In this study, participants (N = 60) with elevated levels of AS were randomly assigned to a two-week exercise intervention [EX] or a waitlist control condition [WL]. Results revealed that males showed significantly greater initial AS reductions relative to females (following 1 week of exercise). However, these gender differences were no longer evident at the end of the intervention. Possible mechanisms for the observed findings and directions for future research are discussed.
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Exercise may influence smoking relapse risk factors within only a few early sessions, given evidence of rapid exercise benefits on anxiety, mood, and anxiety sensitivity.
“Given evidence of rapid benefits from exercise on anxiety, mood, and anxiety sensitivity in other studies (Medina et al., 2014; Smits et al., 2008), exercise may exert its influence on risk factors for smoking relapse in only a few sessions early on in treatment.”
From Identifying attendance patterns in a smoking cessation treatment and their relationships with quit success (2017) · cites this paper as Medina et al., 2014
The Results (section 2.2) and Discussion (section 3) report an early reduction in anxiety sensitivity during the first week of exercise, particularly among men. The paper also describes improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms following a brief exercise intervention, but does not establish that those symptoms improved within the first few sessions. The suggestion about smoking-relapse risk factors is the citing authors’ inference, not a finding attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredOther studies show rapid benefits of exercise on anxiety, mood, and anxiety sensitivity.
“Given evidence of rapid benefits from exercise on anxiety, mood, and anxiety sensitivity in other studies (Medina et al., 2014; Smits et al., 2008)”
From Identifying attendance patterns in a smoking cessation treatment and their relationships with quit success (2017) · cites this paper as Medina et al., 2014
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- Authors
- Medina, J. L., DeBoer, L. B., Davis, M. L., Rosenfield, D., Powers, M. B., Otto, M. W., & Smits, J. A. J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Southern Methodist University (US)
- Boston University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Medina, Johnna L.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Mental Health and Physical Activity
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-09
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 147-151
- ISSN
- 1755-2966 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4659399
- OpenAlex
- W2167351319
- Semantic Scholar
- f0ffd29f202c22d1016ac17af7b67abf01b87eb7
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 1.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Mental health and physical activity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (F31DA036919)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Cardiac Health and Mental Health
- Keywords
- anxiety sensitivity, exercise intervention, gender differences, moderate-to-vigorous exercise, waitlist control, anxiety disorders, sex differences in treatment response
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