Amidst strong efforts to promote the therapeutic benefits of physical activity for reducing depression and anxiety in clinical populations, little focus has been directed towards the mental health benefits of activity for non-clinical populations. The objective of this meta-meta-analysis was to systematically aggregate and quantify high-quality meta-analytic findings of the effects of physical activity on depression and anxiety for non-clinical populations. A systematic search identified eight meta-analytic outcomes of randomised trials that investigated the effects of physical activity on depression or anxiety. The subsequent meta-meta-analyses were based on a total of 92 studies with 4310 participants for the effect of physical activity on depression and 306 study effects with 10,755 participants for the effect of physical activity on anxiety. Physical activity reduced depression by a medium effect [standardised mean difference (SMD) = -0.50; 95% CI: -0.93 to -0.06] and anxiety by a small effect (SMD = -0.38; 95% CI: -0.66 to -0.11). Neither effect showed significant heterogeneity across meta-analyses. These findings represent a comprehensive body of high-quality evidence that physical activity reduces depression and anxiety in non-clinical populations.

BackgroundThe number of commercial apps to improve health behaviours in children is growing rapidly. While this provides opportunities for promoting health, the content and quality of apps targeting children and adolescents is largely unexplored. This review systematically evaluated the content and quality of apps to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children and adolescents, and examined relationships of app quality ratings with number of app features and behaviour change techniques (BCTs) used.MethodsSystematic literature searches were conducted in iTunes and Google Play stores between May–November 2016. Apps were included if they targeted children or adolescents, focused on improving diet, physical activity and/or sedentary behaviour, had a user rating of at least 4+ based on at least 20 ratings, and were available in English. App inclusion, downloading and user-testing for quality assessment and content analysis were conducted independently by two reviewers. Spearman correlations were used to examine relationships between app quality, and number of technical app features and BCTs included.ResultsTwenty-five apps were included targeting diet (n = 12), physical activity (n = 18) and sedentary behaviour (n = 7). On a 5-point Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), overall app quality was moderate (total MARS score: 3.6). Functionality was the highest scoring domain (mean: 4.1, SD: 0.6), followed by aesthetics (mean: 3.8, SD: 0.8), and lower scoring for engagement (mean: 3.6, SD: 0.7) and information quality (mean: 2.8, SD: 0.8). On average, 6 BCTs were identified per app (range: 1–14); the most frequently used BCTs were providing ‘instructions’ (n = 19), ‘general encouragement’ (n = 18), ‘contingent rewards’ (n = 17), and ‘feedback on performance’ (n = 13). App quality ratings correlated positively with numbers of technical app features (rho = 0.42, p < 0.05) and BCTs included (rho = 0.54, p < 0.01).ConclusionsPopular commercial apps to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children and adolescents had moderate quality overall, scored higher in terms of functionality. Most apps incorporated some BCTs and higher quality apps included more app features and BCTs. Future app development should identify factors that promote users’ app engagement, be tailored to specific population groups, and be informed by health behaviour theories.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0538-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Physical activity theories have almost exclusively focused on conscious regulatory processes such as plans, beliefs, and expected value. The aim of this review was to aggregate the burgeoning evidence showing that physical activity is also partially determined by non-conscious processes (e.g., habits, automatic associations, priming effects). A systematic search was conducted and study characteristics, design, measures, effect size of the principle summary measures, and main conclusions of 52 studies were extracted by two independent coders. The findings support that habitual regulatory processes measured via self-report are directly associated with physical activity beyond conscious processes, and that there is likely interdependency between habit strength and intentions. Response latency measures of automatic associations with physical activity were widely disparate, precluding conclusions about specific effects. A small body of evidence demonstrated a variety of priming effects on physical activity. Overall, it is evident that physical activity is partially regulated by non-conscious processes, but there remain many unanswered questions for this area of research. Future research should refine the conceptualisation and measurement of non-conscious regulatory processes and determine how to harness them to promote physical activity.

Purpose of ReviewThe purpose of this paper was to provide a comprehensive narrative review of the relationship between physical activity (PA) and anxiety and the rationale for including it as a treatment option for anxiety disorders. Several gaps in the literature are highlighted alongside recommendations for future research.Recent FindingsPA in the general population has established efficacy in preventing and managing cardiovascular disease and improving wellbeing. Recent epidemiological data further suggests that people who are more active may be less likely to have anxiety disorders. In addition, evidence from systematic reviews of randomised control trials suggests that exercise training, a subset of PA, can reduce symptoms in anxiety and stress-related disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia and panic disorder.SummaryAnxiety disorders are common, burdensome and costly to individuals and wider society. In addition to the profound negative impact on individuals’ wellbeing and functioning, they are associated with worsened physical health, including a higher risk for cardiovascular diseases and premature mortality. Although pharmacotherapy and psychological interventions are helpful for many, these treatment approaches are not effective for everyone and are insufficient to address common physical health complications, such as the elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. Given the combined anxiolytic and physical health benefits of increased activity, PA presents a promising additional treatment option for people with anxiety disorders. However, there remain key gaps in the literature regarding the mechanisms underlying the effects of PA, optimal PA protocols, methods of improving adherence and the importance of physical fitness. These must be addressed for PA to be successfully implemented in mental health services.

Spending a lot of time sitting has been linked to more depressive symptoms and spending a lot of time engaged in screen-based sitting has been linked to greater likelihood of having mental disorders and poorer psychological distress. The purpose of this study was to examine whether overall sitting time and time spent sitting in different contexts was associated with depression, anxiety, or stress symptoms. Sitting time (time spent sitting on typical work-and non-work days while engaged in leisure activities, working, using a computer, watching television, and in transport) and symptom severity of depression, anxiety and stress were self-reported in a cross-sectional online survey in 2012 by Australian adults (N=1,104, 55% female, M age=58 years). Associations were examined using negative binomial regression analyses accounting for the covariates of physical activity, sex, age, income, education, and presence of chronic conditions. Overall sitting time was significantly associated with more severe depression (b=0.01, 95% CI= 0.00 -0.02) and anxiety (b=0.03, 95% CI= 0.02 -0.04) but not stress (b=0.01, 95% CI= -0.00 -0.02) symptoms. Time spent sitting while at a computer was associated with more severe depression (b=0.04, 95% CI= 0.01 -0.07) and anxiety (b=0.03, 95% CI= 0.00 -0.06) symptoms, and time spent sitting while in transport was associated with more severe anxiety (b=0.09, 95% CI= 0.05 -0.13) and stress (b=0.05, 95% CI= 0.02 -0.08) symptoms. Limiting overall sitting time and time spent sitting while at a computer or in transport could be a potential strategy to improve mental health. Evidence is emerging that more sitting time is associated with depressive symptoms or likelihood of having mental disorders (Arredondo et al., 2013; Balboa-Castillo, León-Muñoz, Graciani, Rodríguez-Artalejo, & Guallar-Castillón, 2011;Hamer, Stamatakis, & Mishra, 2010;Peeters, Burton, & Brown, 2012;Sanchez-Villegas et al., 2008;Teychenne, Ball, & Salmon, 2010a, 2010bvan Uffelen et al., 2013), but no studies have tested how sitting time is related to anxiety or stress symptoms. Anxiety and stress are important aspects of mental health to investigate, given that more than 75% of people report experiencing some stress or anxiety symptoms (Crawford & Henry, 2003), and between 5-10% of the population in developed countries have severe depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders (Demyttenare et al., 2004). Even mild symptoms of anxiety and stress can be highly debilitating and contribute considerably to burden of disease (S. Cohen & Williamson, 1991; Kalia, 2002; Kiecolt-Glaser, McGuire, Robles, & Glaser, 2002; Pietrzak et al., 2012;Rai et al., 2012), so it is important to determine whether sitting time is linked to anxiety and stress, as well as to depression symptoms. These studies suggest that more time spent sitting overall (i.e., across multiple sitting activities) is associated with more severe depressive symptoms; however it remains unclear whether overall sitting time is associated with severity of anxiety or s...

Human development is characterized by the complex interplay of processes that manifest at multiple levels of analysis and time-scales. We introduce the Intraindividual Study of Affect, Health and Interpersonal Behavior (iSAHIB) as a model for how multiple time-scale study designs facilitate more precise articulation of developmental theory. Combining age heterogeneity, longitudinal panel, daily diary, and experience sampling protocols, the study made use of smartphone and web-based technologies to obtain intensive longitudinal data from 150 persons age 18–89 years as they completed three 21-day measurement bursts (t = 426 bursts, t = 8,557 days) wherein they provided reports on their social interactions (t = 64,112) as they went about their daily lives. We illustrate how multiple time-scales of data can be used to articulate bioecological models of development and the interplay among more ‘distal’ processes that manifest at ‘slower’ time-scales (e.g., age-related differences and burst-to-burst changes in mental health) and more ‘proximal’ processes that manifest at ‘faster’ time-scales (e.g., changes in context that progress in accordance with the weekly calendar and family influence processes).

This study will be useful for informing the design of future web-based interventions targeting breast cancer survivors.