PHYSICAL EXERCISE, STRESSFUL LIFE EXPERIENCE, AND DEPRESSION IN ADULTS WITH EPILEPSY

Adults with epilepsy completed self-report measures of exercise partic ipation, barriers to exercise, stressful life experience, depression, and general psychosocial adjustment (n = 133) as part of routine outpa tient visits. Descriptive statistics showed lower levels of depression among patients who exercised regularly. Structural equation analyses confirmed the fit of a path model that included significant direct eff ects of exercise and stressful life experience on depression. These ef fects were independent of each other, and independent of the influence of other predictor variables, such as seizure frequency, age, and gen der. Stressful life experience also had a direct unique effect on seiz ure frequency in the multivariate models. These results suggest that p roblems with depression, which are common in adults with epilepsy, are significantly lower among those who exercise regularly and avoid stre ssful life change.