The Effects Of Exercise and Media Exposure On Anxiety, Depression, And Global Mood States

Abstract

The link between acute exercise and psychological improvements in a non-clinical population has been established. It is clear from repeated examination that aerobic exercise alone has been consistently associated with reductions in anxiety, depression and improvements in mood. In contrast, previous experimental research has documented that exposure to idealized female models adversely affects women's mood (Stice, 2001). The ultra-thin icon has figured prominently in this research but the lean muscular body or hyper-fit physique, widely represented in popular print-media, has not been extensively explored. The common practice of reading popular media with idealized images during physical activity may have an impact on psychological variables. PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this examination was to quantify the effects of fitness media exposure during exercise on psychological affect. A secondary purpose was to tease out expectancy effects utilizing the Solomon 4-group design. METHODS: All participants engaged in 30-minutes of physical activity on a treadmill or exercise bicycle at a self-selected intensity. Heart rate, perceived exertion (Borg, l981), and distance were recorded. Volunteers were counterbalanced and randomly assigned to either a fitness (hyper-fit images) or control (no idealized images) magazine condition within a Solomon-group design. The dependent variables of state anxiety (STAI) and mood states (POMS) were measured in half the cases before exercise and in all cases within 3-min after exercise. Data was analyzed with a series of dependent t-tests and a repeated measure ANO VA on post-test scores. This allowed for speculation regarding pre-test sensitization and expectancy as well as group differences in the post exercise condition. RESULTS: Viewing ultra-fit images in popular media during exercise were associated with significant (p<.001) increases in anxiety, depression, tension and reductions (p<.05) in mood when compared to control magazine and exercise conditions. Additionally, results indicate that pre-test sensitization was not a significant issue when testing the psychological factors in this investigation. CONCLUSION: Physical activity of a self-selected intensity while viewing innocuous reading material was associated with improvements in psychological variables in a non-clinical population. It is concluded that viewing idealized images in the print media during exercise is not a benign experience and should be further examined.