Journal
EARLY INTERVENTION IN PSYCHIATRY
Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 128-132Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/eip.12537
Keywords
adolescent; aerobic exercise; anxiety; depression; predicted VO2max; young adults
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Funding
- Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute for Child and Maternal Health
- Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation
- Dr. Frank MacMaster's Cuthbertson and Fischer Chair in Paediatric Mental Health
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Aim Major depressive disorder (MDD) onset generally occurs in adolescence/early adulthood. However, pharmacotherapy use in younger populations is restricted due to black box warnings. Aerobic exercise may be a viable treatment option for mild-to-moderate MDD, but little is known about its acceptability/effectiveness in young adults. Methods Unmedicated and relatively inactive 18-to-24 olds with MDD completed fitness/clinical assessments at baseline and after 12 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise (3x/wk; 30-minute sessions in target heart rate [HR] zone), with the aim of increasing cardiovascular fitness (VO2max-indexed). Results Post-intervention, predicted VO2max increased, whereas depression scores decreased. A correlation existed between time spent in target HR zone and anxiety symptom decreases. Exercise adherence and satisfaction were high, and drop-out was minimal. Conclusions This pilot is among the first to assess the feasibility of aerobic exercise as an antidepressant treatment strategy in young adults, a group for which options have limited acceptability.
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