Mental Health and Exercise

Exercise & Mental Health | Increased levels of exercise in the evening were found to improve depressive symptoms in young adults with bipolar spectrum disorders (BSD), according to a study published in Depression & Anxiety.

“Increased time spent engaging in vigorous activity was associated with a greater reduction in subsequent depressive symptoms for the BSD group,” researchers noted. “Interventions targeting physical activity may effectively help regulate inter-episode mood disturbances in BSD.” 

Researchers collected data over 20 days from 111 young adults aged 18 to 27 in 3 groups: low BSD risk, high BSD risk, and BSD diagnosis. Physical activity was measured using wrist actigraphy counts and categorized by the activity level—sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous.

The percentage of activity in the morning hours and evening hours in each state was also noted. Multilevel models were used to find associations between activity type and symptoms. 

Increased vigorous activity, particularly in the evening, was significantly associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms for the BSD diagnosis group.

No between-group differences were found in time spent in each activity state or in the effects of sedentary or vigorous movement on depression symptoms.

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