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How are mood and exercise related? Results from the Finnmark study
H Sexton1, A J Søgaard, R Olstad
1Psychiatric Research Centre for Troms and Finnmark, RITO-Asgard hospital, Tromsø, Norway. sexton@online.de
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
|October 19, 2001
Summary
While exercise and mood are often linked, this study found recreational exercise only inconsistently improved mood in sedentary individuals. The relationship between physical activity and mood is largely correlational, not causal, in the general population.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Exercise Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Population studies frequently correlate recreational exercise and mood.
- The assumption that exercise improves mood is not consistently supported by population data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To prospectively examine the relationship between mood and exercise in a community sample.
- To investigate directional effects in the general population and specific subgroups.
Main Methods:
- Utilized synchronous panel models with 2798 paired observations across two samples.
- Analyzed the relationship in the total population, by gender, occupation type (sedentary vs. physical labor), and initial mood state.
Main Results:
- A correlation between mood and exercise was observed, but a consistent directional relationship was not established.
- Recreational exercise showed an inconsistently positive effect on mood only in individuals with sedentary occupations.
- No directional relationship was found between physical work and mood, nor in individuals with initially dysphoric moods or other subgroups.
Conclusions:
- The exercise-mood relationship in this population is predominantly correlational.
- A cautious perspective is warranted regarding the role of exercise in enhancing general population mood.