Open Journal of Medical Psychology

Volume 6, Issue 2 (April 2017)

ISSN Print: 2165-9370   ISSN Online: 2165-9389

Google-based Impact Factor: 1.25  Citations  

The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Different Symptoms of Depression: An Investigation of Psychological Mechanisms of Stress and Coping

HTML  XML Download Download as PDF (Size: 348KB)  PP. 86-102  
DOI: 10.4236/ojmp.2017.62007    1,994 Downloads   4,509 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Considering the growing need for encouraging greater use of a variety of non-pharmacological methods in treating depression, the aim of this quasi experimental study was to examine the effect of aerobic exercise on triple categories of affective, cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression and to investigate its psychological mediators of perceived stress and coping strategies. Methods: Forty five female outpatients with major depressive disorder were divided into three groups including exercise + usual pharmacotherapy (n = 15), psychotherapy + usual pharmacotherapy (n = 14) and a control group receiving only usual pharmacotherapy (n = 16). The exercise used was included 36 one hour session (three sessions per week) with a low to medium intensity of 50% to 70% of the maximal heart rate. The psychotherapy used in this study was the behavioral activation treatment for depression revised. The Persian version of Beck Depression Inventory-II, Perceived Stress Scale and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations were applied to assess the pre- and post-intervention depression, perceived stress, and coping strategies. Results: The findings indicated a significant decrease in the post-intervention scores of all three categories of affective, cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression and the perceived stress level in the adjunctive exercise and psychotherapy conditions compared with the control condition (p = 0.001), but there was no significant difference between the exercise and psychotherapy groups. In addition, no significant improvement was observed regarding the problem-centered, emotion-centered and avoidant-centered stress coping methods in the post-intervention scores of the exercise group compared with the control group. Conclusion: An adjunctive aerobic exercise program can be as effective as adding the psychotherapy to usual pharmacotherapy in further improvement in all three categories of depression symptoms especially mediated by reducing the amount of perceived stress, but not through any significant change in cognitive-behavioral coping strategies.

Share and Cite:

Askari, J. , Saberi-Kakhki, A. , Taheri, H. and Yassini, S. (2017) The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Different Symptoms of Depression: An Investigation of Psychological Mechanisms of Stress and Coping. Open Journal of Medical Psychology, 6, 86-102. doi: 10.4236/ojmp.2017.62007.

Cited by

[1] Investigating psychosocial and behavioural mediators of the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in women from …
Mental Health and …, 2023
[2] Effect of aerobic training on depression and thyroid function in treated hypothyroid women
Revista Pesquisa em Fisioterapia, 2023
[3] Chasing recovery: an autoethnographic/ethnographic study of running in recovery from addiction
2022
[4] Adaptation of cardiorespiratory endurance in obese people by aerobic exercise
Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte, 2022
[5] ADAPTACIÓN DE LA RESISTENCIA CARDIORRESPIRATORIA PERSONAS OBESAS MEDIANTE EJERCICIO AERÓBICO
Revista Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte, 2022
[6] Systematischer Review zum Thema" Körperliche Aktivität und psychische Gesundheit"
2022
[7] Randomized Controlled Trial of Bikram Yoga and Aerobic Exercise for Depression in Women: Efficacy and Stress-Based Mechanisms
2020
[8] A randomized controlled trial of Bikram yoga and aerobic exercise in the treatment of depression: Efficacy and underlying physiological and psychological …
2018
[9] The Mental Health and Well-being of University Students in Germany
2018

Copyright © 2025 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.