Physical exercise is tied to emotion‐related impulsivity: insights from correlational analyses in healthy humans

Abstract

Seminal work has found a negative association between physical exercise and impulsivity levels in humans. This paper aims to strengthen these findings by evaluating the association between the amount of self-reported physical exercise per week and emotion-related impulsivity whilst considering age and gender as covariates on a large-scale dataset.Participants completed an online self-report questionnaire about emotion-related impulsivity (i.e. Feelings Trigger Action) and exercise-related questions. After quality control, 773 participants were included in the analysis. Correlational analyses and a multiple regression model explaining the emotion-related impulsivity scores via the amount of exercise per week and demographic characteristics (i.e. age and gender) were performed.The number of hours spent exercising per week was significantly inversely correlated with the Feelings Trigger Action score (r = −.131, p < .001) and two out of its three subscales. The multiple linear regression model showed that hours of exercise per week and gender were significantly associated with the Feelings Trigger Action score (std. β = −.122, p < .001), however, this model explained only 3.2% of the overall variance.This large-scale dataset confirms seminal work displaying an inverse association between emotion-related impulsivity and hours of exercise per week. Further studies are required to understand the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the two variables. Highlights. This study (N = 773) confirms seminal work on the connection between exercise and impulsivity.. When controlling for demographic variables, the amount of exercise per week was inversely correlated (small effect size) with emotion-related impulsivity levels. . In the multiple-regression model, hours of exercise per week and gender were significantly associated with the Feelings Trigger Action score.

Influence of physical exercise on negative emotions in college students: chain mediating role of sleep quality and self-rated health

“…In previous studies, Javalle and Cheng used the exercise scale measure to measure the physical activity participation of different age groups and the status of physical exercise levels. They verified the scale's reliability, and its reliability level is high (0.70-0.80) (47).…”

On the impulsivity path: Examining the unique and conjoint relations between emotion‐ and non‐emotion‐related impulsivity, internalizing symptoms, alcohol use, and physical health parameters

“…Previous work has shown that increased impulsivity is tied to lower physical activity levels (Javelle, Vogel, et al, 2022; Javelle et al, 2020). Here, we extend this work by showing that ERI and non‐ERI were tied to less physical activity (indexed by low GPAQ) when controlling for poor sleep quality (indexed by high PSQI).…”

“…Intriguingly, regular physical activity may also have links with impulsivity and many of these related biomarkers. For example, less self‐reported engagement in physical activity was correlated with ERI and non‐ERI (Gunten et al, 2020; Javelle, Vogel, et al, 2022; Javelle et al, 2020). In one randomized controlled trial, participants who took part in 8 weeks of physical exercise intervention demonstrated postintervention reductions in ERI and non‐ERI (Javelle et al, 2021).…”

“…In considering the links of impulsivity with psychopathology, it is important to note that there are important age and gender effects on both variables. Indeed, although men are often observed to have more sensation‐seeking and risk‐taking behaviors than women (Cross et al, 2011), some recent work indicates that women tend to obtain lower scores on delay‐discounting tasks (Weafer & de Wit, 2014) and self‐report higher ERI levels (Javelle, Vogel, et al, 2022; Javelle et al, 2020). Age was also considered, given evidence that impulsivity tends to decline during adulthood (Eysenck et al, 1985).…”