ORIGINAL PAPER
A brief report relating physical activity and depressive symptoms in women during the COVID-19 pandemic
1
California Southern University, Costa Mesa, USA
2
Central Washington University, Ellensburg, USA
3
Joyce University, Provo, USA
Submission date: 2021-12-12
Acceptance date: 2022-07-12
Publication date: 2022-07-20
Hum Mov. 2023;24(1):100-103
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between self-reported physical activity and depressive symptoms in US women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
A quantitative self-report online survey was administered to adult women (n > 800) in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Physical activity was measured for frequency, intensity, and duration by using Likert scales, along with descriptive measures of types of activity. The Beck Depression Inventory II was applied to assess depressive symptoms.
Results:
The Beck Depression Inventory II score of participants not engaging in physical activity (b = 13.344, SE = 0.593, p < 0.001) was greater than that of participants engaging in physical activity. No difference in depression score was found in relation to physical activity intensity or duration, which suggests that these have no meaningful effect on depression symptoms.
Conclusions:
All types of self-rated physical activity (low-cost, low-risk activity) taken together are associated with lower depression in women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between self-reported physical activity and depressive symptoms in US women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
A quantitative self-report online survey was administered to adult women (n > 800) in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Physical activity was measured for frequency, intensity, and duration by using Likert scales, along with descriptive measures of types of activity. The Beck Depression Inventory II was applied to assess depressive symptoms.
Results:
The Beck Depression Inventory II score of participants not engaging in physical activity (b = 13.344, SE = 0.593, p < 0.001) was greater than that of participants engaging in physical activity. No difference in depression score was found in relation to physical activity intensity or duration, which suggests that these have no meaningful effect on depression symptoms.
Conclusions:
All types of self-rated physical activity (low-cost, low-risk activity) taken together are associated with lower depression in women during the COVID-19 pandemic.
REFERENCES (14)
1.
Antonijevic J, Binic I, Zikic O, Manojlovic S, Tosic-Golubovic S, Popovic N. Mental health of medical personel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brain Behav. 2020;10(12):e01881; doi: 10.1002/brb3.1881.
2.
Girgus JS, Yang K, Ferri CV. The gender difference in depression: are elderly women at greater risk for depression than elderly men? Geriatrics. 2017;2(4):35; doi: 10.3390/geriatrics2040035.
3.
Mark G, Smith AP. Coping and its relation to gender, anxiety, depression, fatigue, cognitive difficulties and somatic symptoms. J Educ Soc Behav Sci. 2018;25(4):1–22; doi: 10.9734/JESBS/2018/41894.
4.
Piccinelli M, Wilkinson G. Gender differences in depression: critical review. Br J Psychiatry. 2000;177(6):486–492; doi: 10.1192/bjp.177.6.486.
5.
Todd M, Teitler J. Darker days? Recent trends in depression disparities among U.S. adults. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2019;89(6):727–735; doi: 10.1037/ort0000370.
6.
Ettman CK, Abdalla SM, Cohen GH, Sampson L, Vivier PM, Galea S. Prevalence of depression symptoms in US adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(9):e2019686; doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.19686.
7.
Sramek JJ, Murphy MF, Cutler NR. Sex differences in the psychopharmacological treatment of depression. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2016;18(4):447–457; doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2016.18.4/ncutler.
8.
Wosik J, Fudim M, Cameron B, Gellad ZF, Cho A, Phinney D, et al. Telehealth transformation: COVID-19 and the rise of virtual care. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2020;27(6):957–962; doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa067.
9.
Bernstein EE, McNally RJ. Acute aerobic exercise helps overcome emotion regulation deficits. Cogn Emot. 2017;31(4):834–843; doi: 10.1080/02699931.2016.1168284.
10.
Farris SG, Abrantes AM, Uebelacker LA, Weinstock LM, Battle CL. Exercise as a nonpharmacological treatment for depression. Psychiatr Ann. 2019;49(1):6–10; doi: 10.3928/00485713-20181204-01.
11.
Hu S, Tucker L, Wu C, Yang L. Beneficial effects of exercise on depression and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic: a narrative review. Front Psychiatry. 2020;11:587557; doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.587557.
12.
Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation; 1996.
13.
Thomas JR, Nelson JK, Silverman SJ. Research methods in physical activity. Champaign: Human Kinetics; 2015.
14.
King SJ, Wessel J, Bhambhani Y, Sholter D, Maksymowych W. The effects of exercise and education, individually or combined, in women with fibromyalgia. J Rheumatol. 2002;29(12):2620–2627.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 1899-1955 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
