Exercise is an effective treatment for positive valence symptoms in major depression

Abstract

Introduction Measurement of symptoms domains and their response to treatment in relative isolation from diagnosed mental disorders has gained new urgency, as reflected by the National Institute of Mental Health’s introduction of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). The Snaith Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) and the Motivation and Energy Inventory (MEI) are two scales measuring positive valence symptoms. We evaluated the effect of exercise on positive valence symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Methods Subjects in the Treatment with Exercise Augmentation for Depression (TREAD) study completed self-reported SHAPS and MEI during 12 weeks of exercise augmentation for depression. We evaluated the effect of exercise on SHAPS and MEI scores, and whether the changes were related to overall MDD severity measured with the Quick Inventory of Depression Symptomatology (QIDS). Results SHAPS and MEI scores significantly improved with exercise. MEI score change had larger effect size and greater correlation with change in QIDS score. MEI also showed significant moderator and mediator effects of exercise in MDD. Limitations Generalizability to other treatments is limited. This study lacked other bio-behavioral markers that would enhance understanding of the relationship of RDoC and the measures used. Conclusions Positive valence symptoms improve with exercise treatment for depression, and this change correlates well with overall outcome. Motivation and energy may be more clinically relevant to outcome of exercise treatment than anhedonia.

Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Patients with Mental Illness in a Veterans Inpatient Psychiatric Unit: A Review of the Literature

“…However, the articles were found to be a collection of different methods and designs. Designs ranging from qualitative studies (Firth et al, 2016;McArdle, McGale, & Gaffney, 2012) to quantitative (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012;Oretel-Knochel et al, 2014;Pfaff et al, 2014;Powers et al, 2015;Strassnig et al, 2015;Subramaniapillai et al, 2016;Toups et al, 2017) and a mix-method design (Browne, Mihas, & Penn, 2016). Methods found were exploratory (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012;Browne et al, 2016;Firth et al, 2016), experimental (Oretel-Knochel et al, 2014;Strassnig et al, 2015;Toups et al, 2017), ethnographic (McArdle et al, 2012, prospective (Pfaff et al, 2014), pilot (Powers et al, 2015), and cross-sectional (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012;Subramaniapillai et al, 2016).…”

“…Studies were based in Norway (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012), United States (Brown et al, 2015;Powers et al, 2015;Strassnig et al, 2015;Toups et al, 2017), Canada (Subramaniapillai et al, 2016), Australia (Pfaff et al, 2014), Germany (Oretel-Knochel et al, 2014), Ireland (McArdle et al, 2012), and the United Kingdom (Firth et al, 2016). Studies were conducted in different facilities.…”

“…Studies were conducted in different facilities. Some settings were inpatient based on a psychiatric unit (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012;Oretel-Knochel et al, 2014), outpatient (Browne et al, 2016;Firth et al, 2016;Subramaniapillai et al, 2016;Toups et al, 2017), physical training facilities (McArdle et al, 2012;Strassnig et al, 2015), home-based (Pfaff et al, 2014), and other settings otherwise not noted or vague in description (Powers et al, 2015). While the samples were not vague, there were a variety of sample sizes and diagnoses that were included.…”

“…Mental illness diagnoses were a focus of the sample groups for the reviewed studies, which included depression or major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Six of the articles were related to depression and MDD (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012;Browne et al, 2016;McArdle et al, 2012;Oretel-Knochel et al, 2014;Pfaff et al, 2014;Toups et al, 2017) and one PTSD (Powers et al, 2015). Exercise as an intervention was found to be beneficial in six studies for treating mental illnesses (Firth et al, 2016;McArdle et al, 2012;Oretel-Knochel et al, 2014;Powers et al, 2015;Strassnig et al, 2015;Toups et al, 2017) along with other related subthemes.…”

“…Mental illness is a debilitating diagnosis that effects much more than the person's psyche but also the person's social abilities, loss of autonomy, and job-related problems (Oretel-Knochel et al, 2014). Exercise was found to be a very effective activity that positively influenced participants' mental health among those with the diagnoses of depression (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012;Browne et al, 2016;McArdle et al, 2012;Oretel-Knochel., 2014;Toups et al, 2017), anxiety (Bonsaksen & Lerdal, 2012;Oretel-Knochel., 2014), schizophrenia disorders (Browne et al, 2016;Firth et al, 2016;Oretel-Knochel., 2014;Strassnig et al, 2015;Subramaniapillai et al, 2016), Bipolar (Browne et al, 2015;Strassnig et al, 2015;Subramaniapillai et al, 2016), and PTSD (Powers et al, 2015). There were significant improvements in subjects who suffer from schizophrenia disorders (Firth et al, 2016;Oretel-Knochel., 2014;Strassnig et al, 2015;Subramaniapillai et al, 2016).…”