Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-mzp66 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-08T22:33:12.907Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Physical activity and prevalence and incidence of mental disorders in adolescents and young adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2007

ANDREAS STRÖHLE ,
MICHAEL HÖFLER ,
HILDEGARD PFISTER ,
ANNE-GRIT MÜLLER ,
JÜRGEN HOYER ,
HANS-ULRICH WITTCHEN  and
ROSELIND LIEB
ANDREAS STRÖHLE*
Affiliation:
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany
MICHAEL HÖFLER
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology Unit, Munich, Germany Technical University of DresdenInstitute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany
HILDEGARD PFISTER
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology Unit, Munich, Germany
ANNE-GRIT MÜLLER
Affiliation:
Technical University of DresdenInstitute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany
JÜRGEN HOYER
Affiliation:
Technical University of DresdenInstitute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany
HANS-ULRICH WITTCHEN
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology Unit, Munich, Germany Technical University of DresdenInstitute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany
ROSELIND LIEB
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology and Epidemiology Unit, Munich, Germany University of Basel, Epidemiology and Health Psychology, Basel, Switzerland
*
*Address for correspondence: Andreas Ströhle, M.D., Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Although positive effects of physical activity on mental health indicators have been reported, the relationship between physical activity and the development of specific mental disorders is unclear.

Method

A cross-sectional (12-month) and prospective-longitudinal epidemiological study over 4 years in a community cohort of 2548 individuals, aged 14–24 years at outset of the study. Physical activity and mental disorders were assessed by the DSM-IV Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) with an embedded physical activity module. Multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for age, gender and educational status were used to determine the cross-sectional and prospective associations of mental disorders and physical activity.

Results

Cross-sectionally, regular physical activity was associated with a decreased prevalence of any and co-morbid mental disorder, due to lower rates of substance use disorders, anxiety disorders and dysthymia. Prospectively, subjects with regular physical activity had a substantially lower overall incidence of any and co-morbid mental disorder, and also a lower incidence of anxiety, somatoform and dysthymic disorder. By contrast, the incidence of bipolar disorder was increased among those with regular physical activity at baseline. In terms of the population attributable fraction (PAF), the potential for preventive effects of physical activity was considerably higher for men than for women.

Conclusions

Regular physical activity is associated with a substantially reduced risk for some, but not all, mental disorders and also seems to reduce the degree of co-morbidity. Further examination of the evidently complex mechanisms and pathways underlying these associations might reveal promising new research targets and procedures for targeted prevention.

Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 37 , Issue 11 , November 2007 , pp. 1657 - 1666
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abu-Omar, K., Rütten, A. & Lehtinen, V. (2004). Mental health and physical activity in the European Union. Sozial- und Präventivmedizin 49, 301–309.Google Scholar
Broocks, A., Bandelow, B., Pekrun, G., George, A., Meyer, T., Bartmann, U., Hillmer-Vogel, U. & Rüther, E. (1998). Comparison of aerobic exercise, clomipramine, and placebo in the treatment of panic disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry 155, 603–609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhui, K. & Fletcher, A. (2000). Common mood and anxiety states: gender differences in the protective effects of physical activity. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 35, 28–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
CDC (1996). Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. US Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Atlanta, GA.Google Scholar
Charney, D. S. (2004). Psychobiological mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability: implications for successful adaptation to extreme stress. American Journal of Psychiatry 161, 195–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, S. & Rodriguez, R. (1995). Pathways linking affective disturbances and physical disorders. Health Psychology 15, 374–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collingwood, T. R., Sunderlin, J., Reynolds, R. & Kohl, H. W. (2000). Physical training as a substance abuse prevention intervention for youth. Journal of Drug Education 30, 435–451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cotman, C. W. & Berchtold, N. C. (2002). Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity. Trends in Neuroscience 25, 295–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, C. I., Marshall, A. L., Sjostrom, M., Baumann, A. E., Booth, M. L., Ainsworth, B. E., Pratt, M., Ekelund, U., Yngve, A., Sallis, J. F. & Oja, P. (2003). International physical activity questionnaire: 12 country reliability and validity. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 35, 1381–1395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunn, A. L., Trivedi, M. H. & O'Neal, H. (2001). Physical activity dose–response effects on outcomes of depression and anxiety. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 33, S587–S597.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farmer, M. E., Locke, B. Z., Mosciki, E. K., Dannenberg, A. L., Larson, D. B. & Radloff, L. S. (1988). Physical activity and depressive symptoms: the NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study. American Journal of Epidemiology 128, 1340–1351.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodwin, R. D. (2003). Association between physical activity and mental disorders among adults in the United States. Preventive Medicine 36, 698–703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenland, S. & Drescher, K. (1993). Maximum likelihood estimation of the attributable fraction from logistic models. Biometrics 49, 865–872.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenland, S. (2005). Epidemiological measures and policy formulation: lessons from potential outcomes. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 2, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haarasilta, L. M., Marttunen, M. J., Kapiro, J. A. & Aro, H. M. (2004). Correlates of depression in a representative nationwide sample of adolescents (15–19 years) and young adults (20–24 years). European Journal of Public Health 14, 280–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lampinen, P., Heikkinen, R. L. & Ruopplia, I. (2000). Changes in intensity of physical exercise as predictors of depressive symptoms among older adults: an eight-year follow-up. Preventive Medicine 30, 371–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lieb, R., Isensee, B., Sydow, K. von & Wittchen, H.-U. (2000). The Early Developmental Stages of Psychopathology Study (EDSP). A methodological update. European Addiction Research 6, 170–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Motl, R. W., Birnbaum, A. S., Kubik, M. Y. & Dishman, R. K. (2004). Naturally occurring changes in physical activity are inversely related to depressive symptoms during early adolescence. Psychosomatic Medicine 66, 336–342.Google ScholarPubMed
Orwin, A. (1973). The running treatment: a preliminary communication on a new use for an old therapy (physical activity) in the agoraphobic syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry 122, 175–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmer, J., Vacc, N. & Epstein, J. (1988). Adult inpatient alcoholics: physical exercise as a treatment intervention. Journal on Studies of Alcoholism 49, 418–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pate, R. R., Pratt, M. & Blair, S. N. (1995). Physical activity and public health: a recommendation from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association 273, 402–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, P. O., Epstein, L. H., Johnston, J. J., Block, D. R. & Blair, E. (1988). The effects of physical activity as maintenance for smoking cessation. Addictive Behavior 13, 215–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ströhle, A., Feller, C., Onken, M., Godemann, F., Heinz, A. & Dimeo, F. (2005). The acute antipanic activity of aerobic exercise. American Journal of Psychiatry 162, 2376–2378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ströhle, A. & Holsboer, F. (2003). Stress responsive neurohormones in depression and anxiety. Pharmcopsychiatry 36 (Suppl. 3), 207–214.Google ScholarPubMed
Wittchen, H.-U. (1994). Reliability and validity studies of the WHO-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI): a critical review. Journal of Psychiatric Research 28, 57–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wittchen, H. U., Perkonigg, A., Lachner, G. & Nelson, C. B. (1999). Early developmental stages of psychopathology study (EDSP): objectives and design. European Addictive Research 4, 18–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar