Web-based exercise intervention leads to mental health improvements in 3 months, according to controlled trial

Participants in a web-based physical activity intervention saw improvements in their levels of depression, anxiety and stress, according to findings published in the journal. Mental health and physical activity. Interestingly, these mental health benefits appear to have occurred without noticeable improvements in physical activity.

Despite overwhelming evidence that physical exercise can improve mental health, many adults do not meet current physical activity recommendations: The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. Evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic further decreased exercise levels among the public.

To encourage people to increase their movement, technology-based physical activity interventions have been developed. These interventions help people increase their activity levels using online methods such as smartphone apps, activity trackers, and social media. Although these interventions hold promise, it is not clear whether they offer mental health benefits.

“Web-based interventions have the potential to reach large populations in a cost-effective manner,” the study author explained. Corneel Vandelanotte (@CorneelVDL), Research Professor and Future Fellow at Central Queensland University in Australia. “We know that they can improve physical activity outcomes, but much less is known about how they can positively influence mental health outcomes. The association between physical activity and improved mental health outcomes is well established, so in theory web-based physical activity interventions should also improve mental health outcomes.”

For their study, Vandelanotte and her colleagues recruited a sample of 501 Australian residents who were currently inactive (ie, engaged in less than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week). At baseline, participants completed sociodemographic measures and measures of depression, anxiety, stress, and health-related quality of life. Participants were then randomly assigned to a control group or a web-based physical activity intervention group.

The intervention group had access to an action planning tool and eight physical activity sessions that were given over three months. Questionnaire responses and IF-THEN algorithms were used to provide participants with personalized content and advice. The sessions addressed concepts such as self-efficacy, intentions, and motivation. They also applied the following behavior change techniques: feedback, coaching, goal setting, habit formation, self-management, action planning, and problem solving. At 3 months and 9 months after baseline, participants again completed psychological assessments.

The results revealed that, at all time points, participants who received the exercise intervention reported lower depression, anxiety and stress, and higher mental quality of life relative to baseline. Furthermore, compared to the control group, they reported less depression, anxiety and stress at 3 months and less anxiety at 9 months.

The researchers note that in a previous study, this web-based exercise intervention was found to improve self-reported physical activity, but not physical activity measured via an accelerometer. This is interesting given that the participants nonetheless experienced significant improvements in mental health.

The results indicate that “mental health improvements can be achieved using web-based physical activity interventions, even if physical activity does not improve (we did not find significantly improved physical activity levels using objective measures), but participants believe that their physical activity has improved (we found significant improvements in self-reported activity levels), Vandelanotte told PsyPost.

The study authors say these results align with a psychological explanation for the mental health benefits of exercise. It appears that people may experience positive psychological outcomes with physical activity interventions when they believe they have become more active, even if they have not actually increased their activity. For example, an intervention may promote feelings of accomplishment and improvements in self-esteem and body image, regardless of whether or not a person has increased their exercise.

“What people think happened (they think they’re more active) is more important than what actually happened (there was no real increase in physical activity) for improvements in mental health,” Vandelanotte said.

While the findings suggest that Internet-based physical activity interventions are effective in improving mental health, the previous literature has been mixed. Additional studies will be needed to confirm the findings. Furthermore, despite a large and well-powered sample, the majority of study participants reported good mental health at baseline, which may have limited the detection of improvements in mental health due to ceiling effects. . Populations with poorer mental health, such as clinical samples, may have experienced greater mental health impacts from the intervention.

“This is just one study, the findings need to be confirmed in other studies,” Vandelanotte said. “The findings do not apply to populations with clinical mental health problems, as the participants in this study were in generally good mental health even before the study (and the study was able to further improve mental health outcomes, but not by much). , due to the high base).

The study, “Impact of a web-based personalized physical activity intervention on depression, anxiety, stress and quality of life: secondary results of a randomized controlled trial”, was written by Corneel Vandelanotte, Mitch J. Duncan, Ronald C. Plotnikoff, Amanda Rebar, Stephanie Alley, Stephanie Schoeppe, Quyen To, W. Kerry Mummery, and Camille E. Short.