A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations

© 2015 Taylor & Francis. Amidst strong efforts to promote the therapeutic benefits of physical activity for reducing depression and anxiety in clinical populations, little focus has been directed towards the mental health benefits of activity for non-clinical populations. The objective of this...

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Main Authors: Rebar, Amanda, Stanton, R., Geard, D., Short, C., Duncan, M., Vandelanotte, C.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71945
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author Rebar, Amanda
Stanton, R.
Geard, D.
Short, C.
Duncan, M.
Vandelanotte, C.
author_facet Rebar, Amanda
Stanton, R.
Geard, D.
Short, C.
Duncan, M.
Vandelanotte, C.
author_sort Rebar, Amanda
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2015 Taylor & Francis. Amidst strong efforts to promote the therapeutic benefits of physical activity for reducing depression and anxiety in clinical populations, little focus has been directed towards the mental health benefits of activity for non-clinical populations. The objective of this meta-meta-analysis was to systematically aggregate and quantify high-quality meta-analytic findings of the effects of physical activity on depression and anxiety for non-clinical populations. A systematic search identified eight meta-analytic outcomes of randomised trials that investigated the effects of physical activity on depression or anxiety. The subsequent meta-meta-analyses were based on a total of 92 studies with 4310 participants for the effect of physical activity on depression and 306 study effects with 10,755 participants for the effect of physical activity on anxiety. Physical activity reduced depression by a medium effect [standardised mean difference (SMD) = -0.50; 95% CI: -0.93 to -0.06] and anxiety by a small effect (SMD = -0.38; 95% CI: -0.66 to -0.11). Neither effect showed significant heterogeneity across meta-analyses. These findings represent a comprehensive body of high-quality evidence that physical activity reduces depression and anxiety in non-clinical populations.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-719452018-12-13T09:32:39Z A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations Rebar, Amanda Stanton, R. Geard, D. Short, C. Duncan, M. Vandelanotte, C. © 2015 Taylor & Francis. Amidst strong efforts to promote the therapeutic benefits of physical activity for reducing depression and anxiety in clinical populations, little focus has been directed towards the mental health benefits of activity for non-clinical populations. The objective of this meta-meta-analysis was to systematically aggregate and quantify high-quality meta-analytic findings of the effects of physical activity on depression and anxiety for non-clinical populations. A systematic search identified eight meta-analytic outcomes of randomised trials that investigated the effects of physical activity on depression or anxiety. The subsequent meta-meta-analyses were based on a total of 92 studies with 4310 participants for the effect of physical activity on depression and 306 study effects with 10,755 participants for the effect of physical activity on anxiety. Physical activity reduced depression by a medium effect [standardised mean difference (SMD) = -0.50; 95% CI: -0.93 to -0.06] and anxiety by a small effect (SMD = -0.38; 95% CI: -0.66 to -0.11). Neither effect showed significant heterogeneity across meta-analyses. These findings represent a comprehensive body of high-quality evidence that physical activity reduces depression and anxiety in non-clinical populations. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71945 10.1080/17437199.2015.1022901 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle Rebar, Amanda
Stanton, R.
Geard, D.
Short, C.
Duncan, M.
Vandelanotte, C.
A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations
title A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations
title_full A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations
title_fullStr A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations
title_full_unstemmed A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations
title_short A meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations
title_sort meta-meta-analysis of the effect of physical activity on depression and anxiety in non-clinical adult populations
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71945