Long-term effects of aerobic exercise on psychological outcomes

Background. Although the literature on increased physical fitness and psych ological outcomes has grown large, a number of methodological limitations r emain unaddressed. The present study was designed to address a number of th ese limitations while examining the short- and long-term psychological effe cts following completion of a 12-week aerobic fitness program using bicycle ergometry (and confirmed increases in fitness). Method. Following completion of a la-week aerobic fitness program (and thro ugh 12 months of follow-up), 82 adult participants completed the Beck Depre ssion Inventory, Profile of Mood States, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Physiological measures used to assess ch anges in aerobic fitness were maximal work load, submaximal heart rate at a standard work load, predicted maximum oxygen uptake, and resting heart rat e. Results. Exercise participants experienced a positive fitness change and ps ychological improvement over the initial la-week program compared to a cont rol group. At 1 year follow-up, physiological and psychological benefits re mained significantly improved from baseline. Conclusions. Overall, results indicate that exercise-induced increases in a erobic fitness have beneficial short-term and long-term effects on psycholo gical outcomes. We postulate that participants in the exercise group did no t increase the amount of weekly exercise they performed over the la-month f ollow-up period and thus the maintenance of the psychological improvements occurred concurrent with equal or lesser amounts of exercise, (C) 1999 Amer ican Health Foundation and Academic Press.