Depressed but Still Moving Exercise in Depressive and Nondepressive Adults

Studies of exercise in depression have not focused on persons already engaging in exercise. The current study aimed to provide an in-depth examination of exercise in depressive persons. In all, 62 depressive outpatients were compared with 62 parallelized nondepressive controls on various aspects of self-reported exercise (total amount, frequency, duration, intensity, type). Of the depressive participants, 52% and of the nondepressive participants 76% reported engaging in exercise. Compared with nondepressive exercisers, depressive exercisers exercised less (average total amount of M = 1.7 vs. M = 2.7 hr/week, including all intensity levels), were exercising less frequently (M = 1.7 vs. M = 2.6 sessions/week), and were engaged in fewer different exercise types (M = 1.4 vs. M = 2.0). Groups did not differ in intensity (M = 6.1 vs. 6.2 METs) or duration of exercise sessions (M = 1.1 hr). Exercisers with depression engage in exercise at reduced levels compared with nondepressive exercisers. Interventions to increase exercise in depressive patients should focus on raising the frequency of exercise sessions rather than the duration or intensity.