Should practitioners promote physical activity as a treatment for depression?
Open accessAbstract
For many years, experts have been debating the pros and cons of exercise for depression. Proponents of exercise for depression point to those clinical trials which have shown that exercise improves mood, while sceptics point out the methodological problems in many of the apparently positive trials, and the uncertainties around the acceptability of exercise as a treatment for depression. Here two experts critically review the evidence around exercise for depression, provide arguments for and against the promotion of physical activity as a treatment for depression, explore issues around the generalisability of exercise as a treatment for depression and look to the future by discussing ongoing trials that will provide more evidence to inform this important debate.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Uptake of exercise referral schemes by patients in the UK is variable due to social and motivational constraints.
“the uptake of such schemes by patients is variable due to social and motivational constraints (Donaghy and Taylor 2010).”
From A call to action: Exercise as treatment for patients with mental illness (2015) · cites this paper as Donaghy and Taylor 2010
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Exercise treatment for depression
Dunn, A. L., Trivedi, M. H., Kampert, J. B., Clark, C. G., & Chambliss, H. O. (2005) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2004.09.003 · Cited by 1,208 · see citing works
Mead, G. E., Morley, W., Campbell, P., Greig, C. A., McMurdo, M., & Lawlor, D. A. (2009) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd004366.pub4 · Cited by 364 · see citing works
Lessons in exercise neurobiology: the case of endorphins.
Dishman, R. K., & O'Connor, P. J. (2009) · Mental health and physical activity · doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2009.01.002 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 12
- Steptoe A, editor. Depression and physical illness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2006.
- Badger F, Nolan P. Use of self-chosen therapies in depressed people in primary care. J Clin Nurs 2007; 16:1343-52. doi:10.1111/ j.1365-2702.2007.01769.x · DOI
- Taylor A. Increasing physical activity as a low intensity treatment for depression. In: Bennett-Levy J, Richards D, Farrand P et al., editors. Oxford Guide to low intensity CBT interventions. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2010. p.159-68.
- Morgan O. Approaches to increase physical activity: reviewing the evidence for exercise referral schemes. Public Health 2005; 119:361-70. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2004.06.008 · DOI
- Williams NH, Hendry M, France B et al. Effectiveness of exercise-referral schemes to promote physical activity in adults: systematic review. Br J Gen Pract 2007; 57:979-86. doi:10.3399/096016407782604866 · DOI
- Craft LL, Perna FA, Freund KM et al. Psychosocial correlates of exercise in women with self-reported depressive symptoms. J Phys Act Health 2008; 5:469-80.
- Seime RJ, Vickers KS. The challenges of treating depression with exercise: from evidence to practice. Clin Psychol Sci Pract 2006; 13:194-7. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2006.00022.x · DOI
- Kirsch I, Deacon BJ, Huedo-Medina TB et al. Initial severity and antidepressant benefits; a meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. PLoS Med 2008; 5:e45. doi:10.1371/ journal.pmed.0050045 · DOI · Paper page
- Turner EH, Matthews AM, Linardatos E et al. Selective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacy. N Engl J Med 2008; 358:252-60. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa065779 · DOI · Paper page
- Hill AB.The environment and disease: association or causation? Proc R Soc Med 1965; 58:295-300.
- Taylor AH, Faulkner G. Inaugural editorial. Ment Health Phys Act 2008; 1:1-8. doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2007.11.001 · DOI
- Taylor AH. The role of primary care in promoting physical activity. In: Riddoch C, McKenna J, editors. Perspectives in health and exercise. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan; 2003. p. 153-80.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Patients' views of physical activity as treatment for depression: a qualitative study
Searle, A., Calnan, M., Lewis, G., Campbell, J., Taylor, A., & Turner, K. (2011) · British Journal of General Practice · doi:10.3399/bjgp11x567054 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Self-citationA call to action: Exercise as treatment for patients with mental illness
Stanton, R., Rosenbaum, S., Kalucy, M., Reaburn, P., & Happell, B. (2015) · Australian Journal of Primary Health · doi:10.1071/py14054 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“However, despite the high use of exercise referral schemes in the UK, the uptake of such schemes by patients is variable due to social and motivational constraints (Donaghy and Taylor 2010).”
Background
- Authors
- Donaghy, M., & Taylor, A.
- Affiliations
- Queen Margaret University (GB)
- Professor in Exercise and Health Psychology, School of Sport &Health Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
- Venue
- Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-06
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 132-135
- ISSN
- 1478-2715 (ISSN-L)
- 2042-8189
- OpenAlex
- W1991322959
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Queen Margaret University Publications Repository (Queen Margaret University) (acceptedVersion)
- Queen Margaret University Publications Repository (Queen Margaret University) (submittedVersion)
- 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, depression treatment, exercise therapy, mood improvement
- MeSH terms
- Clinical Trials as Topic, Depression, Family Practice, Health Promotion, Humans, Exercise, Practice Guidelines as Topic, Evidence-Based Medicine
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
