Regular exercise, anxiety, depression and personality: a population-based study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether regular exercise is associated with anxiety, depression and personality in a large population-based sample as a function of gender and age.


METHODS
The sample consisted of adolescent and adult twins and their families (N=19,288) who participated in the study on lifestyle and health from The Netherlands Twin Registry (1991-2002). Exercise participation, anxiety, depression and personality were assessed with self-report questionnaires.


RESULTS
The overall prevalence of exercise participation (with a minimum of 60 min weekly at 4 METs (Metabolic Energy Expenditure Index)) in our sample was 51.4%. Exercise participation strongly declined with age from about 70% in young adolescents to 30% in older adults. Among adolescents, males exercised more, whereas, among older adults, females exercised more. Exercisers were on average less anxious (-0.18 SD), depressed (-0.29 SD) and neurotic (-0.14 SD), more extraverted (+0.32 SD) and were higher in dimensions of sensation seeking (from+0.25 SD to+0.47 SD) than non-exercisers. These differences were modest in size, but very consistent across gender and age.


CONCLUSIONS
This study corroborates and extends previous findings: regular exercise is cross-sectionally associated with lower neuroticism, anxiety and depression and higher extraversion and sensation seeking in the population.
De Moor
M H M
MH
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mhm.de.moor@psy.vu.nl
Beem
A L
AL
Stubbe
J H
JH
Boomsma
D I
DI
De Geus
E J C
EJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010551:Personality; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014427:Twins