Working It Out

Abstract

Mental health problems are increasingly prevalent in today’s society. Exercise interventions have been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of many mental health problems, but often overlooked is the potential for exercise to reduce symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and comorbid psychological conditions (e.g., anxiety & depression). PURPOSE: Examine the acute effects of a bout of moderate intensity continuous aerobic exercise (MICE) and a bout of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE), relative to a no-exercise inactive control (SED), in participants with subsyndromal PTSD. METHODS: Participants [N= 24, 9 males; age (M ± SD); 25.9 ± 9.2 yrs; Estimated VO2peak (M ± SD); 34.6 ± 10.2 ml·kg-1·min-1] completed three randomly ordered 35-min conditions (HIIE, MICE, SED) following a within subjects design. All participants met the criteria for subsyndromal PTSD (i.e., having at least one symptom in each of the major DSM-5 clusters), with an average PCL-5 score of 47.64 which exceeded the cut point for probable PTSD of 33. State Anxiety, and Depression were assessed before (Pre), immediate after (Post0), 20-minutes after (Post20), and 40-minutes after (Post40) each condition. RESULTS: Anxiety and Depression were significantly reduced following all conditions. Anxiety Post40 was significantly less than Pre for HIIE [Cohen’s d = 1.05], MICE [Cohen’s d = 0.78], and SED [Cohen’s d = 0.53]. Depression Post40 was significantly less than Pre for HIIE [Cohen’s d = 0.76], MICE [Cohen’s d = 0.84], and SED [Cohen’s d = 0.32]. CONCLUSION: Exercise significantly reduced Anxiety and Depression to a greater extent than SED. This study provides evidence for exercise-induced short-term improvements in comorbid psychological conditions associated with PTSD. Future studies need to apply these benefits to a longitudinal program.