Bustamante Eduardo E, Brellenthin Angelique G, Brown David R, O'Connor Patrick J
Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL.
Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2025 May 1;57(5):1056-1066. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003636. Epub 2024 Dec 19.
Physical activity is frequently touted as beneficial for mental health. This article, based on a 2023 ACSM colloquium, highlights key strengths and limitations of the evidence regarding physical activity and mental health from three perspectives: epidemiological studies, randomized controlled trial experiments, and investigations that explicitly consider the potential role that contextual factors, such as the social climate in which physical activity is completed, can play in physical activity-mental health interactions. A large body of epidemiological evidence supports that regular leisure time physical activity is associated with less depression and anxiety. Higher amounts of physical activity are often associated with fewer depressive symptoms, but there may be a dose-response point where for some people more is not better but can plateau or even worsen. Epidemiological evidence is emerging but currently inadequate to support associations between mental health and occupational, transportation/active commuting, or domestic/household physical activity types. A large body of randomized controlled trials, typically small, short duration and conducted with samples biased toward middle-to-higher socioeconomic status Whites, supports that the adoption of regular exercise improves aspects of mental health; however, the mechanisms are unclear and for those without mental disorders the mean effects are small. Mental health benefits of exercise may be partially a placebo response or result from contextual factors surrounding exercise programs. A small body of evidence supports that contextual elements, such as the program implementation quality and social environment, can influence the mental health outcomes associated with physical activity programs, but the evidence is currently inadequate to identify which contextual variables have consistent moderate or larger effects. Greater progress will be made in this area when research designs are expanded to include consideration of the potential influence of contextual factors on relationships between physical activity and mental health.
体育活动常常被吹捧为对心理健康有益。本文基于2023年美国运动医学学会研讨会，从三个角度突出了体育活动与心理健康相关证据的关键优势和局限性：流行病学研究、随机对照试验以及明确考虑背景因素（如进行体育活动时的社会环境）在体育活动与心理健康相互作用中可能发挥的潜在作用的调查。大量流行病学证据支持，定期的休闲体育活动与较少的抑郁和焦虑相关。较高的体育活动量通常与较少的抑郁症状相关，但可能存在一个剂量反应点，对于某些人来说，更多并不更好，反而可能趋于平稳甚至恶化。关于心理健康与职业、交通/主动通勤或家庭/家务体育活动类型之间的关联，流行病学证据正在出现，但目前尚不充分。大量随机对照试验（通常规模较小、持续时间较短，且样本偏向中高社会经济地位的白人）支持，经常锻炼能改善心理健康的各个方面；然而，其机制尚不清楚，对于没有精神障碍的人来说，平均效果较小。运动对心理健康的益处可能部分是安慰剂反应，或者是运动项目周围背景因素的结果。一小部分证据支持，诸如项目实施质量和社会环境等背景因素会影响与体育活动项目相关的心理健康结果，但目前的证据不足以确定哪些背景变量具有持续的中等或更大影响。当研究设计扩展到包括考虑背景因素对体育活动与心理健康关系的潜在影响时，该领域将取得更大进展。
