The Effect of Exercise on Clinical Depression and Depression Resulting from Mental Illness: A Meta-Analysis
Abstract
The effect of exercise on negative affect has been examined in hundreds of studies. However, the effect of exercise on diagnosed clinical depression has received far less attention. Furthermore, poor methodological techniques predominate and results have been conflicting. A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of exercise on clinical depression and depression resulting from mental illness. The chosen studies examined the effect of a chronic exercise paradigm (independent variable) on depression (dependent variable). Each study’s variables were coded: design, subjects, exercise, and dependent measure characteristics that could moderate the effect of exercise on depression. Moderator variables were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results from 30 studies showed an overall mean effect of −.72. Therefore, individuals who exercised were −.72 of a standard deviation less depressed than individuals who did not exercise. Moderating variables and implications for the prescription of exercise as an effective treatment for depression are discussed.
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Three meta-analyses have looked at the effect of exercise on depression, and all found a benefit.
“Three meta-analyses have looked at the effect of exercise on depression, and all found a benefit.[9][10][11]”
The size of the effect of exercise compared with no treatment in the studies analysed is similar to those found by three previous meta-analyses.
“The size of the effect of exercise compared with no treatment in the studies we analysed is similar to those found by three previous meta-analyses.[9][10][11]”
Previous meta-analyses pooled data from a range of study types including uncontrolled studies and randomised as well as non-randomised controlled trials; pooled exercise versus no treatment with exercise versus other treatments; and did not explicitly assess study quality.
“However, these analyses pooled data from a range of study types that included uncontrolled studies and randomised as well as non-randomised controlled trials.They also pooled data from trials that compared exercise and no treatment with data from trials that compared exercise and other forms of treatment, and they did not explicitly assess the quality of the studies.”
Several meta-analyses have looked at the effect of exercise on depression and all found that exercise was of benefit.
“Several meta-analyses (Craft 1998;Carlson 1991;North 1990;Lawlor 2001;Stathopoulou 2006;Sjosten 2006) have looked at the effect of exercise on depression and all found that exercise was of benefit.”
From Exercise for depression (2009) · cites this paper as Craft 1998
Three of these reviews pooled data from a range of study types that included uncontrolled studies and randomised as well as non-randomised controlled trials, and pooled data from trials that compared exercise and no treatment with data from trials that compared exercise and other forms of treatment.
“However, three of these reviews pooled data from a range of study types that included uncontrolled studies and randomised as well as non-randomised controlled trials, and pooled data from trials that compared exercise and no treatment with data from trials that compared exercise and other forms of treatment (Craft 1998;Carlson 1991;North 1990).”
From Exercise for depression (2009) · cites this paper as Craft 1998
Previous systematic reviews that found exercise improved depression included uncontrolled trials, so their results are probably biased in favour of exercise.
“Previous systematic reviews which found that exercise improved depression included uncontrolled trials (North 1990;Craft 1998;Carlson 1991, so the results of these reviews are probably biased in favour of exercise.”
From Exercise for depression (2009) · cites this paper as Craft 1998
In previous meta-analyses, the length of exercise was the only characteristic related to the effect size for depression treatment, and 9-12 weeks were associated with the largest reduction.
“This was partly consistent with previous meta-analyses in which the length of exercise was the only characteristic related to the effect size for depression treatment [168, 169], and where 9–12 weeks were associated with the largest reduction.”
From Comparative Effectiveness of Multiple Exercise Interventions in the Treatment of Mental Health Disorders: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [168]
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Archer, T., Josefsson, T., & Lindwall, M. (2015) · CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets · doi:10.2174/1871527313666141130203245 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
“In addition to cross-sectional and/or longitudinal studies, a number of meta-analyses of intervention studies have been published during the last 20 years (3, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24).”
Sigwalt, A. R., Budde, H., Helmich, I., Glaser, V., Ghisoni, K., Lanza, S. R., Cadore, E. L., Lhullier, F. L. R., Bem, A. F. D., Hohl, A., et al. (2011) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.05.075 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
“Emerging evidence suggests that exercise may be as effective as psychotherapy and more effective than other behavioral interventions for treating mood disorders (North et al., 1990; Craft and Landers, 1998; Blumenthal et al., 1999; Hoffman et al., 2011).”
BackgroundAerobic Exercise for Alcohol Recovery
Brown, R. A., Abrantes, A. M., Read, J. P., Marcus, B. H., Jakicic, J. M., Strong, D. R., Oakley, J. R., Ramsey, S. E., Kahler, C. W., Stuart, G. L., et al. (2008) · Behavior Modification · doi:10.1177/0145445508329112 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
“…to both no-treatment control conditions (Doyne et al., 1983; Doyne et al., 1987; McCann & Holmes, 1984) and to more traditional treatments for depression, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (Craft & Landers, 1998; Lawlor & Hopker, 2001) and antidepressant medication (Babyak et al., 2000).”
Citters, A. D. V., Pratt, S. I., Jue, K., Williams, G., Miller, P. T., Xie, H., & Bartels, S. J. (2009) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10597-009-9272-x · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Schuch, F. B., Vasconcelos-Moreno, M. P., Borowsky, C., Zimmermann, A. B., Rocha, N. S., & Fleck, M. P. (2015) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2014.11.005 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
“…rights reserved. encouraging results, most studies have evaluated the effects of exercise on moderately depressed outpatients (Cooney et al., 2013; Craft and Landers, 1998; Rethorst et al., 2009; Stathopoulou et al., 2006) and only two evaluated in samples that were also composed by severely…”
BackgroundResultPoulin, M.-J., Chaput, J., Simard, V., Vincent, P., Bernier, J., Gauthier, Y., Lanctôt, G., Saindon, J., Vincent, A., Gagnon, S., et al. (2007) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/00048670701689428 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
“The psychological benefits for clinical populations comes from two meta-analyses of outcomes of depressed patients that showed that effects of exercise were similar to those of psychotherapeutic interventions [54,55].”
BackgroundTerry, P. C. (2011) · doi:10.1002/9781444395150.ch16 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Exercise as an adjunct treatment for schizophrenia: A review of the literature
Biddle, S. (1999) · Journal of Mental Health · doi:10.1080/09638239917157 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
The physical activity experiences of men with serious mental illness: Three short stories
Carless, D., & Sparkes, A. C. (2007) · Psychology of sport and exercise · doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2007.03.008 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
“Existing reviews generally report similarly positive conclusions concerning the effects of physical activity on depression (e.g., Craft & Landers, 1998; Mutrie, 2000; O’Neal, Dunn, & Martinsen, 2000) although Burbach (1997) and Lawlor and Hopker (2001) express reservations concerning the…”
BackgroundDodd, K., & Shields, N. (2005) · Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2005.06.003 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Daley, A. (2002) · Advances in Psychiatric Treatment · doi:10.1192/apt.8.4.262 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
The effects of exercise on mood changes: the moderating effect of depressed mood.
Lane, A. M., & Lovejoy, D. J. (2001) · PubMed · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Lindheimer, J. B., O’Connor, P. J., & Dishman, R. K. (2015) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-015-0303-1 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
A preliminary, randomized trial of aerobic exercise for alcohol dependence
Brown, R. A., Abrantes, A. M., Minami, H., Read, J. P., Marcus, B. H., Jakicic, J. M., Strong, D. R., Dubreuil, M. E., Gordon, A. A., Ramsey, S. E., et al. (2014) · Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment · doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2014.02.004 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
“…positive impacts of exercise on symptoms of depression and anxiety have been well documented (Babyak et al., 2000; Carek, Laibstain, & Carek, 2011; Craft & Landers, 1998; Dinas, Koutedakis, & Flouris, 2011; Dunn, Trivedi, & O’Neal, 2001; Gill, Womack, & Safranek, 2010; Lawlor & Hopker, 2001; Mead…”
Exercise as an add-on strategy for the treatment of major depressive disorder: a systematic review
Mura, G., Moro, M., Patten, S., & Carta, M. (2014) · CNS Spectrums · doi:10.1017/s1092852913000953 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Mailey, E. L., Wójcicki, T. R., Motl, R. W., Hu, L., Strauser, D. R., Collins, K. D., & McAuley, E. (2010) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2010.498894 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
“Meta-analytic evidence suggests that there is a consistent moderate, inverse association between participation in physical activity and depression (Craft & Landers, 1998) and state anxiety (Petruzzello, Landers, Hatfield, Kubitz, & Salazar, 1991).”
BackgroundDunn, A. L., Trivedi, M. H., Kampert, J. B., Clark, C. G., & Chambliss, H. (2002) · Controlled Clinical Trials · doi:10.1016/s0197-2456(02)00226-x · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Callaghan, P., Khalil, E., Morres, I., & Carter, T. (2011) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-465 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“Population studies report that depression is linked to low levels of exercise [3].”
BackgroundSerious psychological distress in U.S. adults with arthritis
Shih, M., Hootman, J. M., Strine, T. W., Chapman, D. P., & Brady, T. J. (2006) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00573.x · Cited by 105 · see citing works
White, K., Kendrick, T., & Yardley, L. (2009) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2009.03.001 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Physical exercise and depression
Rot, M. A. H., Collins, K. A., & Fitterling, H. (2009) · Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine A Journal of Translational and Personalized Medicine · doi:10.1002/msj.20094 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Towards Automatic Depression Detection: A BiLSTM/1D CNN-Based Model
Lin, L., Chen, X., Shen, Y., & Zhang, L. (2020) · Applied Sciences · doi:10.3390/app10238701 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
“Firstly, traditional treatments for depression such as psychotherapy or pharmacological are timely, costly, and sometimes ineffective [4].”
BackgroundA Life-Long Approach to Physical Activity for Brain Health
Macpherson, H., Teo, W.-P., Schneider, L. A., & Smith, A. E. (2017) · Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2017.00147 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
“…also points to a number of psychological benefits of PA, including the reduction of depressive (North et al., 1990; Calfas and Taylor, 1994; Craft and Lander, 1998; Larun et al., 2006) and anxiety (Petruzzello et al., 1991; Calfas and Taylor, 1994; Larun et al., 2006; Wipfli et al., 2008)…”
BackgroundBagøien, T. E., Halvari, H., & Nesheim, H. (2010) · Perceptual and Motor Skills · doi:10.2466/06.10.11.13.14.pms.111.5.407-432 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
“…activity participation tends to be positively associated with several indicators of psychological well-being, as reflected by reduced depression (Craft & Landers, 1998), reduced anxiety (Long & van Stavel, 1999), and positive changes in quality of life, vitality, and self-esteem (Fox, 1997;…”
BackgroundBehavioural activation for depression: Efficacy, effectiveness and dissemination
Soucy Chartier, I., & Provencher, M. D. (2013) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2012.07.023 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
“A significant amount of studies support the efficacy of physical activity in reducing depressive symptoms (Craft and Landers, 1998; Mead et al., 2008; North et al., 1990).”
BackgroundMead, G. E., Morley, W., Campbell, P., Greig, C. A., McMurdo, M. E. T., & Lawlor, D. A. (2008) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd004366.pub3 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Rawson, R. A., Chudzynski, J., Gonzales, R., Mooney, L., Dickerson, D., Ang, A., Dolezal, B., & Cooper, C. B. (2015) · Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment · doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2015.04.007 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
“Increasingly, exercise interventions (ranging from 8–12 weeks) have been embraced in health care as a promising approach for populations suffering from an array of health issues (Craft & Landers, 1998; Lautenschlager et al., 2008; Palmer et al. 1995; Skrede et al., 2006; WHO, 2007).”
Background
- Authors
- Craft, L. L., & Landers, D. M.
- Affiliations
- Arizona State University (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology
- Publisher
- Human Kinetics
- Published
- 1998-12
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 339-357
- ISSN
- 0895-2779 (ISSN-L)
- 1543-2904
- OpenAlex
- W2160091667
- Cited by
- 480
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 4.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- physical activity, major depressive disorder, depression, mental illness, exercise training, exercise therapy, negative affect, exercise prescription
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