Effects of Exercise on Levels of Depression

ÇİÇEK G., Atan T., KAMUK Y. U., İmamoğlu O., YAMANER F., Aslan V.

ANTHROPOLOGIST, vol.20, no.3, pp.670-674, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 20 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/09720073.2015.11891772
  • Journal Name: ANTHROPOLOGIST
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.670-674
  • Keywords: Depression, Regular Exercising, Healthy Living, Quality of Life, PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY, MENTAL-HEALTH, SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR, LIFE-STYLE, ANXIETY, PREVALENCE, FITNESS, STATES
  • Ondokuz Mayıs University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise on depression levels. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was applied to a total of 605 subjects at different exercise levels. The BDI score of non-exercising group was 13.18, while the average score of those who exercise was found to be 8.93. Non-exercising group showed higher depressive symptoms than the exercising group. Gender had no significant difference on the levels of depression (p>.05). Non-exercising group was found to be more depressive than the exercising group (p<.01). It was observed that exercising resulted in a low level of depression and the level of depression was reduced as the exercise time was increased. It can be said that exercise had a positive effect on reducing depression. People should be motivated and encouraged for having the habit of regular exercise to improve the quality of life.