title: Effects of an employee exercise programme on mental health.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prior research indicates that workplace wellness programmes (WWPs) are generally associated with lowered healthcare costs and improved employee health. Despite the importance of mental well-being in workplace productivity and attendance, few WWP studies have focused on improvements in psychological well-being.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effects of the Bruin Health Improvement Program (BHIP), a 3-month exercise and nutrition WWP, on seven domains of health: physical and mental health, stress, energy level, social satisfaction, self-efficacy and quality of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using data from BHIP completers, we conducted multiple one-way multivariate analyses of variance and follow-up univariate t-tests to examine changes in physical and mental health, stress, energy level, social satisfaction, self-efficacy and quality of life. Effect sizes were also calculated post hoc to determine the magnitude of each effect.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results for the 281 participants reveal significant improvements across all seven domains (P < 0.001). Effect sizes ranged from 0.19 to 0.67.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is unique in revealing the effects of a WWP on multiple domains of psychological well-being. Given rising healthcare costs associated with mental health, targeting mental health through WWP may be an effective strategy for reducing indirect healthcare costs associated with absenteeism and presenteeism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.|United States and Department of Psychology, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
authors.forename: N D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.affiliation: Department of Recreation, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shedd
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bilder
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Siddarth
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004651:Employment; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Exercise; mental health; workplace wellness programme.