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Regular exercise, subjective wellbeing, and internalizing problems in adolescence: causality or genetic pleiotropy?
Meike Bartels1, Marleen H M de Moor, Niels van der Aa
1Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Genetics
|February 4, 2012
Summary
Regular physical activity is linked to better mental health, but this study found the connection is mainly due to shared genetic factors, not exercise directly improving subjective wellbeing (SWB) or reducing internalizing problems (INT).
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Genetics
- Psychology
- Twin Studies
Background:
- Subjective wellbeing (SWB) and internalizing problems (INT) are significant mental health indicators.
- The causal relationship between exercise behavior and these outcomes remains under investigation.
- Genetic and environmental influences on behavior and mental health are complex and often intertwined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal influence of exercise behavior on SWB and INT using a genetically informative design.
- To determine if genetic and environmental factors underlying exercise also impact SWB and INT.
- To examine within-pair differences in MZ twins to isolate environmental effects.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 6317 adolescent twins and 1180 non-twin siblings, including longitudinal data with a 2-year follow-up.
- Employed a genetically informative design, including analysis of monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs.
- Assessed exercise behavior, SWB, and INT using validated measures.
Main Results:
- Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses revealed associations between exercise behavior and higher SWB and lower INT (correlations: 0.12–0.16).
- These associations were predominantly explained by shared genetic factors, with negligible environmental contributions.
- No significant within-pair differences were observed in MZ twins, indicating exercise did not causally improve SWB or reduce INT beyond genetic predispositions.
Conclusions:
- Exercise behavior is associated with improved subjective wellbeing and reduced internalizing problems.
- The observed associations are largely attributable to common genetic factors influencing both exercise and mental health traits.
- The findings suggest that genetic predispositions play a more significant role than direct environmental effects of exercise on these outcomes.
Keywords:
causalitygenetic pleiotropyinternalizing behaviorregular exercisesubjective wellbeingtwin-siblingMore Related Videos
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