Protective Effects of Acute Exercise on Anxiety Jorge Ballesteros1, Theresa Smith2, Dr. Carson Smith2

1University of California, Santa Barbara 2University of Maryland College Park, Kinesiology Department, UM STAR

Background Purpose

Results

Discussion/ Conclusion

Limitations

References

Research Question Past literature demonstrates that exercise helps improve mental health, alleviate depression, and increase positive affect. 2, 7, 8, 10 The positive qualities that are linked to exercise have lead researchers to investigate how exercise may affect health issues, such as anxiety. Studies have shown that exercise helps decrease anxiety in the general population and those with general anxiety disorder. 4, 6, 9,

13 Meditation and rest conditions in past studies have also proven to be an effective means in reducing anxiety 1,3, 5, 11 . However, only one study has examined the protective effects of rest and exercise when emotional stimuli are presented after the state anxiety has been reduced12. This study further examines the finding that exercise has a more robust protective effect than rest on state anxiety.

Participants •  11 participants •  Convenience Sample •  Ages 19-30 years old •  9 undergraduate, 2 graduate students

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1. Bahurke MS, Morgan WP. Anxiety reduction following exercise and medidation. Cogit Ther Res. 1978; 2 322-33.

2. Barnes, R. T., Coombes, S. A., Armstrong, N. B., Higgins, T. J., & Janelle, C. M. (2010). Evaluating attentional and affective changes following an acute exercise bout using a modified dot-probe protocol. Journal of Sports Sciences, 28, 1065- 1076.

3. Breus MJ, O’Connor PJ. Exercise induced anxiolysis: a test of the “time out” hypothesis in high anxious females. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1998; 30(7):107-12.

4. Broocks, A., B. Bandelow, G. Pekrun, A. George, et al., Comparison of aerobic exercise, clomipramine, and placebo in the treatment of panic disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 1998. 155(5): p. 603-9.

5. Garvin AW, Koltyn KF, Morgan WP. Influence of acute physical activity and relaxation on state anxiety and blood lactate in untrained college males. Int J Sports Med. 1997; 18:470-6.

6. Herring, M. P., O’Connor, P. J., & Dishman, R. K. (2010). The effect of exercise training on anxiety symptoms among patients: A systematic review. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170, 321-331.

7. Kenneth R Fox (1999). The influence of physical activity on mental well-being. Public Health Nutrition, 2, pp 411-418. doi:10.1017/S1368980099000567.

8. Morgan WP. Affective beneficence of vigorous physical activity. Medi Sci Sports Exerc. 1985; 17(1):94-100.

9. Petruzzelo, S., Landers, D., Hatfield, B., Kubitiz, K., & Salazar, W. A meta-analysis on the anxiety-reducing effects of acute and chronic exercise. Outcomes and mechanisms.Sports Med, 11, 143-82.

10. Raglin, JS. Exercise and health, mental. Beneficial and detrimental effects. Sports Med. 1990; 9: 323-9.

11. Raglin JS, Morgan WP. Influence of exercise and quiet rest on state anxiety and blood pressure. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1987; 19 (5) 456-63.

12. Smith, J. Effects of emotional exposure on state anxiety after acute exercise.. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 45, 372-378.

13. Youngstedt SD, Dishman RK, Cuerton KJ, Peacock IJ. Does body temperature mediate anxiolytic effects of acute exercise? J Appl Physiol. 1993; 74: 825-31.

Acknowledgements •  Dr. Steven Smith, Faculty mentor, UCSB •  UM STAR Program, Cohort, & Dr. Hagberg •  Ball State University Sports Psychology

•  Compared to a rest condition, does an acute bout of exercise protect against state anxiety increasing due to unpleasant stimuli?

•  To investigate if exercise has protective effects against state anxiety induced by unpleasant stimuli.

•  Hypothesized that we would find similar results to the Smith (2013) study.

Procedure Day 1 •  Informed Consent •  Questionnaires

•  Health History •  Physical activity questionnaire •  Godin Inventory •  Beck Depression Inventory

Day 1 & Day 2 •  Administer 1st State trait anxiety scale (STAI) •  Performed either exercise or rest •  For exercise & rest recorded exertion, leg pain, pleasure & arousal •  2nd STAI •  7 min slideshow of unpleasant/Neutral stimuli •  3rd STAI •  Emotional Regulation questionnaire (Day 2 only)

Anxiety Scores for Neutral Stimuli Figure 2 Anxiety Scores for Unpleasant Stimuli Figure 3

Methods

Future Directions Demographics

•  High internal validity for the unpleasant slideshow. •  Exercise did not have any protective effects against anxiety as compared to rest. •  Our findings were not similar to the Smith (2013) study which maybe due to the smaller sample size & different stimuli. •  Findings are useful for the overall study & add to the literature of exercises protective effects against anxiety.

•  Small sample size.

•  Participant knew condition beforehand.

•  Anxiety measurement post exercise might show physiological discomfort .

•  Participants had low anxiety scores.

•  Continue collecting data. •  Take STAI longer after stimuli presentation. •  Measure EEG while viewing pictures. •  Sample pool of highly anxious individuals.

Anxiety Scores across time

F(2,18)= 5.5, P=.013, η2=.381

Figure 1

Viewed Pictures

Exercise or rest

Exercise or rest

Viewed Pictures

Viewed pictures

Exercise or rest

Neutral Stimuli Unpleasant Stimuli

Table 1

Table 2