Lecture 6 - anxiety, depression and self-concept

Question 1

problem of causality

Answer 1

causality is hard to prove (chicken and egg problem)
- physical activity < – > well-being.
- To identify a causal relationship, experiments are required.

Question 2

well-being def.

Answer 2

evaluation of one’s own life and the relationship between good and bad physical and psychological sensations. It is based on cognitive and affective processes that can relate to life in general or specific aspects like health, body, social or environmental.

Question 3

subjective well-being

Answer 3

a broad category of phenomena that includes people’s emotional responses, domain satisfaction and global judgement of life satisfaction
- affect: moods and emotion
- cognition: evaluation of life satisfaction

Question 4

ice-berg profile

Answer 4

successful performance shows a peak in vigour
- little more tension and depression
- little less fatigue and confusion
- same anger

Question 5

immediate effects of single session of pa on well-being

Answer 5

o Reduces anger (weak effect)
o Reduces state anxiety (weak effect)
o Reduces tension (moderate effect)
o Reduces tiredness (moderate effect)

Question 6

reasons for overestimation of positive effect of exercise

Answer 6

o Rebound effect: relief that aversive state is over (limitation of before-after comparison)
o Selection bias: data is mostly of more active people
o Inadequate measures of affect

Question 7

effects of multi-week exercise on well-being

Answer 7

o Positive effects (small-moderate)
o No difference between exercise types
o Heterogeneity in the results suggest that there are moderators to the effect (frequency, assessment of affect)

Question 8

self-concept

Answer 8

a person’s perception of him or herself. These perceptions are caused by experiences and interpretation of the environment and can be influenced by reinforcement, evaluation of significant others and attribution for one’s own behavior.

Question 9

Shalvelson, Hubner and Stanton (1976)

Answer 9

self-concept is multifaceted and hierarchically structured
- academic self-concept
- social self-concept
- emotional self-concept
- physical self-concept

Physical activity improves concept of physical ability, physical appearance and general self-concept (low-moderate effect)

Question 10

criticism on self-concept research

Answer 10

o Most studies are on children and adolescents
o Participants with low self-concept have stronger benefits
o Stronger effect for endurance training

Question 11

depression

Answer 11

Exercise reduces depressive symptoms (moderate effect) for people with mild/moderate depression that are willing, motivated and physically healthy enough to do a program.

Question 12

Bartholomew (2005)

Answer 12

acute effects of single-bout exercise on depression
o Exercise: 30 min brisk walk –> increased positive mood (medium effect)
o Duration of effect: 1 hour
o Conclusion: exercise is suitable for short-term regulation of affective state

Question 13

Frühauf (2016)

Answer 13

indoor vs outdoor pa in depression
o Outdoor > indoor > control group (no activity)
o No difference when using identical form of exercise

Question 14

Heggelund (2014)

Answer 14

intensity of pa in depression
o Short high intensity training showed positive effects three hours after exercise. But a problem is that is can be unpleasant (how do we get people to do it)

Question 15

chronic effects of long-term exercise on depression

Answer 15

Exercise programs as similarly effective as pharmacological or psychotherapeutic approaches in reducing depressive symptoms

Question 16

why does pa work in depression

Answer 16

o Enjoyment of trying new things
o Feeling of competence
o Sense of control
o Escape from the pressure of life
o Companionship/ sharing experiences

Question 17

anxiety

Answer 17

There is only few studies but exercise may be an effective extra therapy for clinical anxiety.

Question 18

Ensari, 2015

Answer 18

acute effects of exercise (small effect) on anxiety symptoms in healthy and patient populations

Question 19

Herring, 2017

Answer 19

exercise group had bigger effects on state anxiety and feeling of energy than the control group

Question 20

Herring, 2019

Answer 20

exercise increased energy in patients

Question 21

Stubbs, 2017

Answer 21

moderate effect of exercise program on anxiety symptoms. Six weeks of training improved
 Clinical severity
 Associated symptoms
 Quality of life
 Sleep quality