napa.ufl.edudisabledexercise.htmOpen ↗
Among disabled, exercise can boost moods of those with most-negative traits
June 4, 2003
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Mounting evidence suggests exercise can improve one’s mood. Now University of
Florida researchers have found physical activity provides significant emotional benefits to those
whose personalities are naturally more negative, anxious and depressed.
In the first study known to analyze the relationship between exercise and emotional reactions of
disabled people, UF researchers found those who scored high on neuroticism measures - those who tend
to be more anxious, apprehensive and sad, lonely or dejected - got much bigger emotional boosts from
exercising than those who scored lower. The researchers chose the disabled because they represent an
under-researched population that is far larger than most people realize, with some 54 million people
reporting disabling conditions in the United States alone.
The study also found that the link between physical activity and mood was independent of good and
bad daily events recognized to influence frame of mind, such as job performance, work and personal
relationships. The study provides a truer picture of the role exercise alone plays on mood
reactions, because it is the first one known to control for and eliminate things that might
influence daily mood, such as positive and negative daily life events.
“We found that regardless of the events they experienced on any given day, they had an increased
positive mood and a decreased negative mood on a day they exercised more. And that was pretty
powerful,” said Peter Giacobbi Jr., an assistant professor of sport and exercise
psychology at UF‘s College of Health and Human Performance.
And while the benefits of exercise showed up among all personality types, the researchers were
surprised at how striking the gains were among those who scored highest on measures of neuroticism.
The results suggest physical activity could have profound benefits for those who tend to have more
psychological or emotional difficulties.
“From our standpoint, the individuals who scored high on neuroticism are the ones who are most
likely to feel poorly about themselves, to have negative emotions. They’re the ones that are most
likely to have difficulty adjusting to situations and to have difficulties coping with stress. So
that’s why we were particularly interested in the influence of exercise on those individuals,
because those are people who really, if anything, could benefit the most from exercise,” said
Giacobbi, who will present the study’s results Thursday at the annual meeting of the North American
Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity in Savannah, Ga.
“For many individuals, exercise can be an effective treatment for mood disorders and psychological
distress, and these results suggest support for that,” he said.
An estimated 54 million people report disabling conditions in the United States, according to the
national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, due to accidents, old age, diabetes, cancer and
other diseases. About 11,000 Americans sustain debilitating spinal cord injuries each year, and
Giacobbi says the disabled represent a “vastly under-researched population.”
“They are a minority in the technical sense, but it’s the only minority you and I could become a
member of at any time,” he noted.
The researchers set out to learn whether exercise, daily events and personality in the physically
disabled predicted mood. The team also wanted to know whether people with certain personality
dispositions were more likely to benefit from exercise.
The participants were recruited through the National Wheelchair Basketball Association from around
the United States and Canada. Of the 92 recruited, 13 women and 35 men completed the daily
questionnaires assessing physical activity, mood and daily life events for eight consecutive days.
The participants, who ranged in age from 18 to 44, all were physically active on a regular basis,
with most reporting participation in sport and exercise activities three to five times a week.
Using the information participants provided, researchers analyzed and controlled each of the
variables in order to assess the relationships independently, Giacobbi said.
Researchers say their next step is to study how exercise could provide emotional benefits to
inactive disabled individuals.
“It’s very widely established that exercise is beneficial for your physical health, but the evidence
here suggests it can also lead to more positive mood states, which is correlated with mental health
and life satisfaction," he said. “So I think the benefits of exercise should be extended into the
mental-health arena a little bit more feverishly. Medical doctors and psychologists should be
promoting the mental and physical health benefits of exercise more frequently. I think that I would
put exercise as a prevention and treatment method for many mild forms of mental illness up against
most pharmaceutical agents.”
Giacobbi collaborated with Brent Hardin of the State University of West Georgia, and UF colleagues
Heather Hausenblas, an assistant professor of exercise and sport psychology; Samuel Sears Jr., an
associate professor of clinical and health psychology in the College of Health Professions; graduate
student Amber Stegelin; and former UF student Nancy Frye, now at C.W. Post Long Island University.
The study was funded by the UF Division of Sponsored Research.
iangoddard.netjournal.htmOpen ↗
"To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals." Ben Franklin
Caloric Restriction: users.erols.comcr.htmOpen ↗
Ongoing CR-monkey-study update: "In the monkeys...those on reduced feeding since the study started
are dying at a rate that is about half that of the monkeys receiving a full food ration."
Associated Press: Eating less may extend human life. August 1, 2002 :
msnbc.com788746.aspOpen ↗