Physical Activity and Psychological Adjustment in Adolescents

Abstract

Objective:To examine the association between volume and intensity of physical activity (PA) and depressive symptoms, anxiety, and body image in a large sample of adolescents in Ottawa and surrounding region.Methods:A total of 1259 (n = 746 girls and n = 513 boys) students responded to surveys on leisure time PA, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and body image.Results:A dose response effect of intensity of PA and psychological distress was observed whereby those who performed greater bouts of vigorous PA exhibited better psychological adjustment than adolescents engaging in mild to moderate intensity activity. Gender impacted the results as vigorous PA was associated with reduced depression but not anxiety in boys, and reduced anxiety but not depression in girls. The positive association between total volume of PA and psychological functioning in the overall sample was no longer significant when gender was considered, except for reduced anxiety in girls.Conclusions:Vigorous PA was associated with reductions in depressive symptoms, anxiety and improvements in body esteem in adolescents, but these associations were differentially influenced by gender. Future research is needed to elucidate the efficacy of vigorous PA as a treatment for mental health problems in male and female adolescents.

Physical activity and depressed mood in primary and secondary school-children

“…Further, recent research demonstrated a doseeresponse whereby higher intensities of physical activity were significantly correlated with reduced severity of depressive symptoms in boys aged 12e18 years but not in girls (Goldfield et al, 2011). Conversely, Katon and colleagues found no inverse associations between vigorous-intensity and depressive symptoms in youth aged 13e17 years (Katon et al, 2010).…”

“…In contrast, research examining physical activity and depression in youth is scant with only a small number of population-based studies published to date (Larun, Nordheim, Ekeland, Hagen, & Heian, 2006). Epidemiological studies utilising child and adolescent cohorts have found inverse cross-sectional associations between leisure-time physical activity and depressive symptoms (Goldfield et al, 2011;Prasad, St-Hilaire, Wong, Peterson, & Loftin, 2009;Rothon et al, 2010) and dysthymia (Ströhle et al, 2007), and between sports participation and depressive symptoms (Desha, Ziviani, Nicholson, Martin, & Darnell, 2007). Inverse prospective associations between leisure-time physical activity and risk of depressive symptoms (Motl, Birnbaum, Kubik, & Dishman, 2004), dysthymia (Ströhle et al, 2007), and major depressive disorder (Jerstad, Boutelle, Ness, & Stice, 2010) have also been demonstrated.…”

Reliability and validity of the short Hong Kong Chinese Self-Regulation of Learning Self-Report Scale (SRL-SRS-C)

“…The two-week time interval was considered most feasible for teachers' schedules, and considered long enough to ensure that adolescents could not remember the questionnaire in any great detail (e.g. Goldfield et al, 2011).…”

Moving From Idea to Action

“…Physical activity (PA) provides fundamental health benefits for children and youth (World Health Organization [WHO], 2010), including positive effects on the musculoskeletal system and cardiovascular health (Janssen & LeBlanc, 2010), as well as self-image (Goldfield et al, 2011). Health might even be a critical partner for optimum education (Rothon et al, 2009), and studies have found associations between adolescent PA and academic performance (Fedewa & Ahn, 2011).…”