Do Healthy, Young Adults With Current Feelings Of Anxiety Have Impaired Balance? An Exploratory Study

Abstract

PURPOSE: Chronic physical activity is associated with reduced depression and improved mood. Even acute bouts of exercise have been shown to improve many mood parameters. However, these findings are investigated under controlled laboratory conditions, not the context where most individuals engage in physical activity. Thus, the current study sought to determine whether a group exercise class would lead to acute improvements in mood parameters. METHODS: Subjects recruited from DailyBurn365 class members (n=16, 81% female) consented to participate in the study in compliance with the New York University IRB. Participants completed mood questionnaires, consisting of a modified profile of mood states and state trait anxiety inventory, 10-30 minutes before the exercise class. Polar H7 heart rate (HR) monitors were used during the group exercise class to record average exercise HR over the 30-45minute exercise session. After the exercise, all participants were given a 10-minute recovery period. Following recovery, the participants repeated the mood questionnaires. The participants repeated this process on 2 separate days, at least 1 week apart, allowing us to compare the effects of exercise and the effects of repeated testing using a quasi-experimental design. RESULTS: Sixteen participants successfully completed 2 separate sessions of exercise with both pre and post exercise measurements. There were no differences in the percent HR reserve of exercise for the participants between the two sessions (t=-0.25, p=0.81). In addition, there were no differences reported in pre-exercise mood parameters: depression, hostility, vigor, or stress for day 1 versus day 2 (t=-0.99, p=0.34; t=-1.22, p=0.24; t=-0.15, p=0.88; and t=-0.56, p=0.58 respectively). Following exercise on both days, there were significant improvements in all mood parameters: depression (day1: t=3.