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The cascade of positive events: Does exercise on a given day increase the frequency of additional positive events?
Abstract
Research suggests exercise promotes well-being while reducing the risk and symptoms of certain psychiatric disorders. Similarly, positive events improve quality of life and may minimize the impact of negative life events; a dearth of positive events is also associated with increased psychiatric symptoms. Thus, increasing physical exercise and the occurrence of positive events is central to well-being promotion. Behavioral activation theory suggests the occurrence of one positive event increases the likelihood of engaging in subsequent positive events. We used a daily diary approach to examine this possible positive cascade, exploring relationships between exercise and positive social and achievement events. For three weeks, participants (N = 179) completed questionnaires at the end of each day. Multi-level modeling analyses revealed that daily exercise predicted increased positive social and achievement events on the same day. Exercise on one day also predicted greater positive social events on the subsequent day. Positive events did not affect exercise on the next day. Findings suggest that exercise creates a positive cascade, increasing positive social and achievement events experienced on the same day and positive social events on the following day.
... Mirroring the results of the bivariate correlations, the hierarchical regression analyses indicated that symptoms of depression, well-being, and resilience have a stronger relationship with engagement than with mindfulness and that mindfulness has a stronger relationship with symptoms of anxiety than engagement. The relationships may be explained by the results of previous studies that demonstrated that engaging in personally meaningful and enjoyable activities (engagement) improves positive affect, and positive affect reduces symptoms of depression and improves resilience (Young et al., 2018). Young et al. (2018) explain that this occurs because engaging in personally meaningful activities promotes a greater sense of goal achievement and meaning in life, which in turn improves mental health outcomes. ...
... The relationships may be explained by the results of previous studies that demonstrated that engaging in personally meaningful and enjoyable activities (engagement) improves positive affect, and positive affect reduces symptoms of depression and improves resilience (Young et al., 2018). Young et al. (2018) explain that this occurs because engaging in personally meaningful activities promotes a greater sense of goal achievement and meaning in life, which in turn improves mental health outcomes. Therefore, it is likely that a similar process occurs when tertiary students engage in activities that are personally meaningful to them, given that the engagement interventions informing this study involved activities based on an individual's goals in life (Tuck et al., 2022a). ...
... Engagement (BA) had the largest effect size for decreasing negative affect in the current review. Although none of the reviewed BA studies included a measure of positive affect, a separate intervention study by Young et al. (2018) demonstrated that the positive affect caused by engaging in exercise predicted engagement in further enjoyable activities on subsequent days. The authors state that positive emotions promote engagement, which in turn encourages more positive affect in an upward spiral (Young et al., 2018). ...
... Although none of the reviewed BA studies included a measure of positive affect, a separate intervention study by Young et al. (2018) demonstrated that the positive affect caused by engaging in exercise predicted engagement in further enjoyable activities on subsequent days. The authors state that positive emotions promote engagement, which in turn encourages more positive affect in an upward spiral (Young et al., 2018). Therefore, the therapeutic effect of BA therapy in tertiary education students may be attributed to the fact that it increases positive affect while simultaneously relieving negative affect. ...
The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate practices that improve psychological resilience in tertiary education students. The current systematic review uses poly-strengths theory (Hamby et al., 2018) to compare stress management research from multiple psychological disciplines to determine the factors that improve mental health outcomes and improve resilience among tertiary education students. The results found that paying attention to the present moment had the largest reported effect size for reducing anxiety symptoms and that engaging in personally meaningful and enjoyable activities led to large reductions in negative affect. Positive relations with others, exercise, humor, and acceptance of difficult circumstances were also effective for relieving negative symptoms. It was also found that 15 of the reviewed studies reported only one mental health outcome measure. The majority of reviewed intervention studies did not include measures of positive functioning, making it difficult to determine which intervention types have the largest effects on promoting positive mental health. It is recommended that future intervention studies contain a larger range of mental health outcome measures to better inform preventative mental health practices. The study concludes that of the reviewed interventions, engaging in enjoyable and personally meaningful activities, focusing attention on the present moment, exercise, positive social interactions, humor, and acceptance in difficult circumstances have the largest effects on improving resilience in tertiary education students.
... The second behavior category, outdoor traveling for indoor activities, predominantly comprises meeting friends and families. This behavior may thus contribute to psychological well-being and social capital through enriching personal and group connections [42,43]. The last behavior category, essential outings, specifically comprises going out to purchase daily commodities. ...
Nighttime light guarantees outdoor work, leisure, and other activities, and its convenience and security greatly improve the quality of human life. However, the negative effects of outdoor artificial light at night (ALAN) on humans are also being proven. This study aimed to examine the relationships between outdoor nighttime lighting and human behaviors (i.e., outdoor nighttime behaviors such as jogging and meeting friends) and health (i.e., physical and mental health, including sleep quality and stress) through how individuals feel about outdoor ALAN (i.e., ALAN perceptions) in their living environment. Two online questionnaire surveys were conducted among residents of Tokyo (Survey 1, N = 2000) and Tsukuba City (Survey 2, N = 500), Japan. Structural equation modeling results show that both positive and negative ALAN perceptions increase nighttime outdoor behavior in both surveys. In Survey 1, this association led to a deterioration in sleep quality and physical and mental health. The current findings contribute to understanding the controversial relationships between the pros and cons of nighttime light perceptions and behaviors and health. They also contribute to designing better nighttime lighting in outdoor public and private spaces with relevant restrictions by balancing the benefits and harms of outdoor ALAN.
... In this research, different aspects of PA which include duration, intensity as well as frequency were measured and their correlations with general procrastination have been found in Chinese college students. Similar results also echoed in another research that indicated PA promoted activities which features goal-achievement (e.g., completing a project) applying a daily diary approach (Young et al., 2018), and these activities are thought to be beneficial in students' academic life. ...
Studies have demonstrated that physical activity (PA) is negatively associated with academic procrastination. However, there is limited research on the mechanism underlying this relationship. This study aims to explore the relationship between PA and academic procrastination by investigating the roles of physical self-perceptions and self-esteem. 916 college students (650 females; Mean age = 19.11, SD age = 1.04) participated in the study. Participants completed the Physical Activity Rating Scale-3, the Physical Self-Perceptions Profile, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Academic Procrastination Questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and mediating effect analysis were carried out using SPSS 25.0. The results showed that (a) PA, physical self-perceptions, and self-esteem were negatively correlated with academic procrastination, (b) self-esteem mediated the association between PA and academic procrastination, and (c) physical self-perceptions and self-esteem sequentially mediated the association between PA and academic procrastination. These findings have deepened our understanding on the relationship between PA and academic procrastination, highlighting important approaches to deal with academic procrastination.
... Apart from the more obvious physical benefits of a healthy lifestyle, several studies on specific diets and regular exercise show positive effects on psychological aspects, such as depression, anxiety, stress responsiveness, and self-esteem, as well as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (Clay, 2017;Scully, Kremer, Meade, Graham, & Dudgeon, 1998). Furthermore, regular exercise seems to enhance or enable the experience of positive events on the same day of the exercise and the following day, thereby promoting psychological health (Young, Machell, Kashdan, & Westwater, 2018). Taken together, despite a growing body of evidence for the positive impact of healthy behaviors, most people find it difficult to change and adopt a healthier lifestyle. ...
This study explores a user perspective on fitness-trackers and how they are used to maintain healthy behaviors; and how fitness trackers could be designed to better maintain healthy behaviors. A thematic analysis was conducted on the transcriptions from semi-structured interviews with eight seasoned non-professional runners who regularly used fitness trackers in their exercise regime. The main findings are: (a) the maintenance of healthy behaviors rely more on what happens in the intermission – that is, between healthy behaviors – than during the actual behavior itself; and (b), by visualizing the history of healthy behaviors, intermission feedback help motivate the repetition of healthy behavior in a way that mimics broad choice bracketing and behavioral streaks. Thus, fitness-trackers should focus more on the motivational aspects during the intermission between the healthy behaviors rather than encouraging the performance during the target behavior.
... It is also possible that because LPA activities are broad in nature, they may actually be operating as behavioral activation or exposure, known approaches to improve depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively (Asmundson et al., 2013;Dimaggio & Shahar, 2017). Moreover, being active on any given day serves as a cascade for positive events on that day and the next day (Young, Machell, Kashdan, & Westwater, 2018), which may further promote psychological well-being and positive affect. ...
Lifestyle physical activity (LPA) interventions are a promising alternative to structured exercise interventions for addressing mental health problems. The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature on LPA interventions in any population in order to determine (a) the extent to which mental health outcomes were examined and (b) whether benefits in mental health outcomes were observed. Mental health outcomes were defined as depression, anxiety, perceived stress, health-related quality of life, and psychological well-being. A total of 73 articles were identified as LPA intervention, of which 24.7% (n = 18) reported the effect of LPA intervention on mental health outcomes. The most commonly evaluated mental health outcome was depression, and to a lesser extent anxiety and perceived stress. Overall, findings point to promising effects of LPA interventions across common mental health problems. Key areas for future research are discussed in light of emergent limitations in existing published studies.
... Active individuals report greater wellbeing (Netz & Wu, 2005), life satisfaction (Piko & Keresztes, 2006), and self-efficacy (McAuley et al., 2006). A daily diary study also showed that on days when individuals took part in PA, they were more likely to experience other positive events and emotions, as well as next-day increases in positive social events (Young, Machell, Kashdan, & Westwater, 2018). PA offers the opportunity to use one's strengths as evidence of achievements with which to approach challenges with confidence and competence (Gavin, Mcbrearty, & Harvey, 2013;Whitehead & Biddle, 2008) as individuals surpass their limits, control their body's abilities, and make meaning of what they do (Kimiecik & Newburg, 2009;Mulholland, 2008). ...
Traditional health promotion efforts focus on reducing factors that contribute to ill-health, such as sedentary behavior or smoking. Yet, this focus on negative or deficit behaviors overlooks those who engage in positive health activities and their reasons for doing so, as well as the positive health assets they gain as a result. Focusing on the absence of health promoting attitudes does little to shed light on why and how individuals successfully build states of good health and wellbeing. However, this information is useful for the development of health promotion initiatives. Consequently, this study investigates the experiences of ten physically active Emirati nationals and the psychosocial assets they have developed through their various activities. We also explore the relevancy of positive psychology and of positive health in particular, for health promotion efforts.
... week study of 179 participants found that daily exercise increased the frequency and significance of positive social and achievement events on that day, and social events the next day (Young, Machell, Kashdan, & Westwater, 2018). There is even evidence that the sweat of happy people smells different and induces a different reaction than those with negative affect (de Groot et al., 2015), a possible mechanism to the increase in socialization. ...
What builds lasting change in our lives and why is it difficult for so many people to sustain? The process of self-development happens on multiple levels and time horizons, yet much of the research on lifestyle change examines single factors or interventions. It is not only one thing, one cycle, or one process that moves someone from floundering to flourishing. This paper examines upward spiral dynamics, self-determination theory, self-actualization, and self-transcendence to identify the multi-level and multi-domain factors that contribute to lasting change. It also explores the development of vantage resources, the physiological, social, and emotional resources which allow us to benefit from positive experiences. I theorize that through the cultivation of vantage resources via intrinsic or integrated goals our potential to experience well-being grows, and through sustained effort we’re able to build lasting change. Additionally, self-transcendent experiences ranging from mild to significant reshape the schema of what is valued, purposeful and meaningful. By fostering experiences likely to trigger self-transcendence we perpetuate the cycle of self-development aimed not at narcissism, but meaningful contribution. Artifact 1 proposes a model for these cycles of change, the Upward Spiral of Self Development and Well-Being. Artifact 2 is a catalog of potential vantage resources and related multi-domain activities that potentially contribute to upward spirals.
... People may not explicitly regard novelty as an important need in general life contexts, but it may still contribute to their actions toward specific satisfying events beyond their conscious awareness. Therefore, considering that satisfying events play a unique function in the pursuit of happiness and meaning in life (Fritz, Walsh, & Lyubomirsky, 2017;Young et al., 2018), satisfaction of the need for novelty may be associated to positive functioning . We hypothesized that novelty satisfaction would score highly in relation to satisfying events, although people considered this need less important than the three basic psychological needs. ...
The purpose of this research was to test novelty as a candidate basic psychological need according to the inclusion criteria established within basic psychological needs theory (BPNT). Two cross-sectional studies with 303 (Mage = 33.50, SD = 12.95; 58.41% female) and 598 (Mage = 35.47, SD = 11.89; 54.18% female) Spanish adults were conducted in physical exercise and general life contexts with the following aims: (1) to analyze relations between novelty satisfaction/frustration and well-being outcomes; (2) to examine the mediating role of motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation) in these relations; and (3) to study whether these associations held regardless of the importance participants attached to the need for novelty, and their level of openness to new experiences. In Study 1, satisfaction of the need for novelty positively and directly predicted autonomous motivation and vitality in physical exercise, beyond the three existing basic needs. It also indirectly predicted enjoyment and vitality through autonomous motivation. There was little evidence that importance ratings for need for novelty moderated these relations. In Study 2, novelty satisfaction positively predicted, and novelty frustration negatively predicted, vitality, life satisfaction, and meaning in life. Openness to experience strengthened the relations between novelty satisfaction/frustration and outcomes. A similar pattern of effects was found for the three basic psychological needs. Results provide preliminary support of novelty as an additional candidate need in BPNT.
... More recently, research recommends leisure pastimes as being a means of coping with such daily stress. Not only has exercise been clinically proven to improve mood or lower depressive and anxiety states, recent research has demonstrated that exercise might also help us to engage in more positive things, thereby improving our overall lifestyle and perceived satisfaction with quality of life [4][5][6][7]. Even perceiving one's self as being physically active compared with peers has been concluded as an important factor related to health status and predicted mortality. ...
Using autoethnographic approaches, I analyse ageing trajectories in 10 adventurous outdoor nature sports using boards, paddles, sails and wings in water, snow and air. Skill and risk are intermediate. Training, experience, and safety precautions are required, but risk of death is low. Chronic pain levels increase with age, and capabilities and challenges faced decline. These are offset, however, by greater attention and appreciation of natural surroundings. Of particular significance, enjoyment and opportunities for euphoria persist despite ageing, and euphoria can temporarily override chronic pain, stress and fatigue. In wealthy urbanised nations, chronic pain, and poor mental and emotional health, impose increasing social and economic costs as lifespans increase. By providing opportunities for euphoria as well as exercise, adventurous outdoor nature sports can make substantial contributions to the physical, mental and social health of older individuals, reducing the costs of aged care. Therefore, health policies should encourage lifelong nature sports.
• Hypothesized that Ss who engaged in more positive origin activities would rate their lives as more satisfying than Ss who engaged in fewer such activities, and both would be more satisfied than control Ss. After completing a series of questionnaires including a life-event inventory, 3 groups of college students were selected from a pool of 141 and given instructions either to (a) engage in 12 activities from a self-selected list of pleasurable activities, (b) engage in 2 activities from that list, or (c) return after 1 mo for retesting only. Ss were then given a pleasantness-of-events test, an event-frequency test, the Perceived Quality of Life Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and a 54-item Symptom Check List. Covariance analyses revealed that Ss instructed to engage in either 2 or 12 pleasurable activities reported greater pleasantness and a higher quality of life than controls; there were no differences between groups on reports of psychiatric distress. Prior negative life change was treated as a factor in the design and was found to interact with the activity instructions: Ss reporting many prior negative changes exhibited less psychiatric distress along with greater pleasantness when instructed to engage in 12 activities rather than 2 or none. Results suggest that pleasant activities increase positive aspects of well-being in general, but may reduce distress only for people experiencing considerable life stress. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
• Hypothesized that Ss who engaged in more positive origin activities would rate their lives as more satisfying than Ss who engaged in fewer such activities, and both would be more satisfied than control Ss. After completing a series of questionnaires including a life-event inventory, 3 groups of college students were selected from a pool of 141 and given instructions either to (a) engage in 12 activities from a self-selected list of pleasurable activities, (b) engage in 2 activities from that list, or (c) return after 1 mo for retesting only. Ss were then given a pleasantness-of-events test, an event-frequency test, the Perceived Quality of Life Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and a 54-item Symptom Check List. Covariance analyses revealed that Ss instructed to engage in either 2 or 12 pleasurable activities reported greater pleasantness and a higher quality of life than controls; there were no differences between groups on reports of psychiatric distress. Prior negative life change was treated as a factor in the design and was found to interact with the activity instructions: Ss reporting many prior negative changes exhibited less psychiatric distress along with greater pleasantness when instructed to engage in 12 activities rather than 2 or none. Results suggest that pleasant activities increase positive aspects of well-being in general, but may reduce distress only for people experiencing considerable life stress. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Regular physical exercise contributes to marked reductions in psychosocial stress, the enhancing of posi-tive affect and well-being. However, affect can be measured as high (e.g., engaged) or low (e.g., content) activation affect. To ascertain further these interactions, we examined the relationship between exercise frequency (i.e., how often an individual engages in physical activities) and affect and Psychological Well-Being (PWB). We investigate this relationship in the context of individuals' gender, age, psycho-somatic symptoms (i.e., headaches, pain in shoulders, neck or other parts of the body), sleeping problems, smoking habits, and Body Mass Index (BMI). Moreover, we also investigate if the relationship between exercise frequency and affect differs depending on the dimension of affect (low or high activation). In Study 1 (N = 635), 2 (N = 311), and 3 (N = 135) high activation positive affect (PA) predicted frequently exercising, while high activation negative affect (NA) predicted being less physically active. Moreover, high activation PA was negatively related to smoking habits and to how often the participant had sleeping problems. Finally, the relationship between frequently exercising and high activation affect was still pre-sent when controlling for age, occupation and gender. Moreover, in Study 2, high activation PA remained strongly related to exercise frequency even when we controlled for BMI. In Study 3, frequent physical ac-tivity was also related to PWB. In Study 4, participants (N = 150) self-reported low activation affect. All findings in regard to exercise frequency were replicated, with the exception of the relationship to affect. Psychological resources (i.e., PWB), the frequent experience of PA, together with the infrequent experi-ence of NA may provide for the facilitation of an exercise regime and healthy behavior. Thus, regular physical exercise remains as a health-ensuring necessity over age, gender, and occupation. Nevertheless, high activation positive affect should be in focus.
The Pleasant Events Schedule is a behavioral self-report inventory of potentially reinforcing events. The test–retest method, involving 181 Ss of various ages and social classes, demonstrated good to excellent stability for the 8 most used scales of the schedule across periods of 1, 2, and 3 mo. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparison with peer and observer ratings. Predictive validity of the test's frequency ratings was studied in relation to subsequent self-monitoring data, while predictive validity of test enjoyability ratings was determined by comparison with subsequent choice behavior. Construct validity was inferred from the results of other research. Adequate validity of all types was found. Scale intercorrelations are also reported, and the question of response bias is addressed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Associations between exercise and mental well-being have been documented repeatedly over the last two decades. More recently, there has been application of exercise interventions to clinical populations diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and eating disorders with evidence of substantial benefit. Nonetheless, attention to the efficacy of exercise interventions in clinical settings has been notably absent in the psychosocial treatment literature, as have been calls for the integration of these methods within the clinical practice of psychologists. In this article, we provide a quantitative and qualitative review of these efficacy studies in clinical samples and discuss the potential mechanism of action of exercise interventions, with attention to both biological and psychosocial processes. The meta-analysis of 11 treatment outcome studies of individuals with depression yielded a very large combined effect size for the advantage of exercise over control conditions: g = 1.39 (95% CI: .89–1.88), corresponding to a d = 1.42 (95% CI: .92–1.93). Based on these findings, we encourage clinicians to consider the role of adjunctive exercise interventions in their clinical practice and we discuss issues concerning this integration.
Objectives: To assess within-subject associations between daily life events, positive and negative mood states, and exercise and the moderating role of personality for the exercise/mood relationship.Design: Within-subjects daily repeated measures.Methods: College students (n=106) completed the NEO-FFI (The NEO-PI-R Personality Inventory: Professional Manual) and daily assessments of mood, exercise, and appraisals of daily events for eight consecutive days.Results: Results confirmed the hypotheses that increased levels of exercise would result in significant increases in positive mood states and reductions in negative mood. Even when positive and negative daily life events were controlled, significant associations between exercise and positive mood were observed. Also observed were significant reductions in negative mood when participants exercised more. However, these associations were not significant when daily events were controlled. Finally, aspects of personality were found to moderate the exercise/mood relationship, but these associations were generally small.
Multilevel modeling is a technique that has numerous potential applications for social and personality psychology. To help realize this potential, this article provides an introduction to multilevel modeling with an emphasis on some of its applications in social and personality psychology. This introduction includes a description of multilevel modeling, a rationale for this technique, and a discussion of applications of multilevel modeling in social and personality psychological research. Some of the subtleties of setting up multilevel analyses and interpreting results are presented, and software options are discussed.
Behavioral activation (BA), as a stand-alone treatment for depression, began as a behavior therapy treatment condition in a component analysis study of the Beck, Rush, Shaw, and Emery version of cognitive therapy. BA attempts to help depressed people reengage in their lives through focused activation strategies. These strategies counter patterns of avoidance, withdrawal, and inactivity that may exacerbate depressive episodes by generating additional secondary problems in individuals' lives. BA is designed to help individuals approach and access sources of positive reinforcement in their lives, which can serve a natural antidepressant function. Our purpose in this article is to describe BA and the history of its development.
Novel study designs using within-subject methodology and frequent and prospective measurements are required to unravel direction of causality and dynamic processes of behavior over time. The current study examined the effects of physical activity on affective state. A primary and within-study replication sample was derived from twin pairs.
Female twins (n = 504) participated in an experience sampling method study at baseline. Positive and negative affective changes were examined before and following daily life increases in physical activity. Neuroticism was measured at baseline and depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and at each of four follow-up assessments. Diagnoses, derived by Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Health-IV axis I disorders, (A. P. A., 1994) were obtained at baseline.
A significant increase in positive affect (PA) following the moment of increase in physical activity was replicated across both samples up to 180 min after physical activity. There was no effect of physical activity on negative affect (NA). Across the two samples, a history of fulfilling diagnostic criteria for depression at least once moderated the effect of physical activity on PA, in that the effect was lost more rapidly.
The study supports a causal effect of physical activity on PA. However, people with past experience of clinical depression may benefit less from the PA-inducing effect of physical activity. These findings have implications for the use of physical exercise in clinical practice.
One of the most promising ways to increase well-being is to engage in valued and enjoyable activities. Behavioral activation (BA), an intervention approach most commonly associated with the treatment of depression, is consistent with this recommendation and can easily be adapted for non-clinical populations. This study reports on a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies to examine the effect of BA on well-being. Twenty studies with a total of 1353 participants were included. The pooled effect size (Hedges's g) indicated that the difference in well-being between BA and control conditions at posttest was 0.52. This significant effect, which is comparable to the pooled effect achieved by positive psychology interventions, was found for non-clinical participants and participants with elevated symptoms of depression. Behavioral activation would seem to provide a ready and attractive intervention for promoting the well-being of a range of populations in both clinical and non-clinical settings.
The positive effects of physical activity on mood are well documented in cross-sectional studies. To date there have been only a few studies analyzing within-subject covariance between physical activity and mood in everyday life. This study aims to close this gap using an ambulatory assessment of mood and physical activity. Thirteen participants completed a standardized diary over a 10-week period, resulting in 1,860 measurement points. Valence, energetic arousal, and calmness are the three subscales of mood that were assessed. Participants rated their mood promptly after self-selected activities. A multilevel analysis indicates that the three dimensions of mood were positively affected by episodes of physical activity, such as walking or gardening-valence: t(12) = 5.6, p < .001; energetic arousal: t(12) = 2.4, p = .033; calmness: t(12) = 2.8, p = .015. Moreover, the association is affected by the individual baseline mood level, with the greatest effect seen when mood is depressed.
Accumulating data suggest that behavioral activation interventions may be an effective approach to treating clinical depression. Given the high comorbidity and construct overlap between anxiety and mood disorders, a conceptually and methodologically integrated intervention that addresses symptoms of both conditions is indicated.As a means to this end, two questions are addressed. First, is the construct overlap and functional similarities of anxiety and mood disorders substantial enough to warrant an integrated intervention? Second, are behavioral activation treatments conceptually compatible with traditional behavioral interventions for anxiety disorders? Toaddress these questions, behavioral activation interventions and their underlying principles briefly are described,followed by a functional analytic framework in which depressive and anxiety based symptom patterns are viewed as conceptually parallel in the context of a general negative affective syndrome. Finally, practical applications of behavioral activation for anxiety are discussed, and a case illustration is presented to highlight how behavioralactivation may be used to treat a patient with coexistent anxiety and depressive pathology.
The relationship between exercise and anxiety has been extensively examined over the last 15 years. Three separate meta-analysis were conducted to quantitatively review the exercise-anxiety literature for state anxiety, trait anxiety and psychophysiological correlates of anxiety. Such a procedure allows tendencies of the research to be characterised. The results substantiate the claim that exercise is associated with reductions in anxiety, but only for aerobic forms of exercise. These effects were generally independent of both subject (i.e. age and health status) and descriptive characteristics. Numerous design characteristics were different, but these differences were not uniform across the 3 meta-analyses. For state anxiety, exercise was associated with reduced anxiety, but had effects similar to other known anxiety-reducing treatments (e.g. relaxation). The trait anxiety meta-analysis revealed that random assignment was important for achieving larger effects when compared to the use of intact groups. Training programmes also need to exceed 10 weeks before significant changes in trait anxiety occur. For psychophysiological correlates, cardiovascular measures of anxiety (e.g. blood pressure, heart rate) yielded significantly smaller effects than did other measures (e.g. EMG, EEG). The only variable that was significant across all 3 meta-analyses was exercise duration. Exercise of at least 21 minutes seems necessary to achieve reductions in state and trait anxiety, but there were variables confounding this relationship. As such, it remains to be seen what the minimum duration is necessary for anxiety reduction. Although exercise offers therapeutic benefits for reducing anxiety without the dangers or costs of drug therapy or psychotherapy, it remains to be determined precisely why exercise is associated with reductions in anxiety. Since several mechanisms may be operating simultaneously, future research should be designed with the idea of testing interactions between these mechanisms.
I examined correlates of Negative Affect (NA) and Positive Affect (PA) through both within- and between-subjects analyses. Eighty subjects completed a daily questionnaire for 6-8 weeks. Each day they rated (a) their mood, (b) the extent to which they suffered from various minor physical problems, (c) their level of stress, (d) the time they spent socializing, and (e) whether or not they had exercised. Subjects also completed several trait tests measuring their general affective level, frequency of health problems, and social tendencies. A between-subjects analysis showed the expected pattern: Level of physical complaints and perceived stress were correlated with individual differences in NA but not in PA, whereas social indicators and frequency of exercise were related only to PA. The within-subjects results generally exhibited a similar pattern: Social activity and exercise were more strongly related to PA, whereas perceived stress was highly related to NA. However, the most significant finding was that, contrary to prediction, health complaints were as strongly related to intraindividual fluctuations in PA as in NA. Possible interpretations of the observed correlates of NA and PA are discussed.
Self-esteem lability (SEL), defined as daily event-related variability in state self-esteem, and low trait self-esteem (TSE) were assessed among 205 male and female undergraduates who were currently depressed (CD), previously depressed (PD), and never depressed (ND). SEL scores were derived for the effect of positive, negative, and combined events on state self-esteem over 30 days. Consistent with psychodynamic and cognitive theories, SEL was found to be a better index of depression proneness than TSE. PD Ss showed higher lability on all SEL scores than ND controls but did not differ from controls on TSE. Ss were reassessed 5 months later, and new cases showed higher premorbid SEL than ND controls but did not differ from controls on premorbid TSE. SEL at Time 1 was found to increase risk for depression at Time 2 among Ss reporting high life stress at Time 2. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.
The study of daily events has been dominated by a focus on affective reactions to daily events. Although informative, this research needs to be complemented by research on non-affective and cognitive reactions to events. Although daily events are certainly related to how people feel, they are also related to how people think, particularly about themselves. The present article presents the results of a series of studies examining relationships between daily events and both affective and non-affective states. These results suggest that although affective and non-affective reactions to daily events may covary (e.g., when people feel badly, they may think more poorly about themselves and vice versa), this covariation is not perfect. Non-affective states covary with daily events above and beyond the covariation between events and affect, and affective states covary with events above and beyond the covariation between events and non-affective states.
Numerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health. The authors suggest a conceptual model to account for these findings, arguing that the happiness-success link exists not only because success makes people happy, but also because positive affect engenders success. Three classes of evidence--crosssectional, longitudinal, and experimental--are documented to test their model. Relevant studies are described and their effect sizes combined meta-analytically. The results reveal that happiness is associated with and precedes numerous successful outcomes, as well as behaviors paralleling success. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that positive affect--the hallmark of well-being--may be the cause of many of the desirable characteristics, resources, and successes correlated with happiness. Limitations, empirical issues, and important future research questions are discussed.
Numerous theories in social and health psychology assume that intentions cause behaviors. However, most tests of the intention- behavior relation involve correlational studies that preclude causal inferences. In order to determine whether changes in behavioral intention engender behavior change, participants should be assigned randomly to a treatment that significantly increases the strength of respective intentions relative to a control condition, and differences in subsequent behavior should be compared. The present research obtained 47 experimental tests of intention-behavior relations that satisfied these criteria. Meta-analysis showed that a medium-to-large change in intention (d = 0.66) leads to a small-to-medium change in behavior (d = 0.36). The review also identified several conceptual factors, methodological features, and intervention characteristics that moderate intention-behavior consistency.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
Objective
Research on meaning in life has generally focused on global meaning judgments. This study examined how people's daily experiences, represented by events that occur in daily life, influence their perceived sense of meaning on a daily basis.Method
One hundred sixty two college students completed daily reports for two weeks. We examined the relationships among daily social and achievement events, daily positive and negative affect, and daily meaning in life. In addition, we tested the possible moderating influence of depressive symptoms on Research on meaning in life has generally focused on global meaning judgments. This study examined how people's daily experiences, represented by events that occur in daily life, influence their perceived sense of meaning on a daily basis.One hundred sixty two college students completed daily reports for two weeks. We examined the relationships among daily social and achievement events, daily positive and negative affect, and daily meaning in life. In addition, we tested the possible moderating influence of depressive symptomsthese relationships.ResultsPositive daily social and achievement events were related to greater daily meaning, above and beyond the contributions of daily positive and negative affect. Negative social and achievement events were related to less daily meaning, and negative achievement events covaried with daily meaning above and beyond positive and negative affect. Depression moderated the relationships between positive events and meaning, such that people who reported more depressive symptoms had greater increases in daily meaning in response to positive social and achievement events than individuals who reported fewer symptoms.Conclusion
These findings suggest the important role that daily events may play in fluctuations in people's affective experiences and sense of meaning in life.
The positivity or negativity of events is a major parameter for theorizing in diverse areas of psychology––namely, altruism, conflict, attitudes, impression formation, or conditioning. This chapter explores the impact of positivity or negativity of an event on experience and behavior, such as emotional experience or decision behavior. The positivity or negativity acquired in direct connection with some events might also vary little among or within individuals when the valences of these events are extremely positive or extremely negative. Much less attention has been devoted to factors that initially cause an event to be positive or negative, and investigators often regard it as self-evident that the valence (i.e., the positivity or negativity) of an event is fixed, as if it were an inherent property of the event. Several variables have implications for the experienced intensity of emotions––the valence quantity of an event, the importance of high-identity goals, the likelihood of an event, and the representation of an event as the presence versus the absence of a feature.
This study investigated the interrelationships among global self-concept, life events, and positive subjective well-being (positive affect [PA], negative affect [NA], and life satisfaction [LS]) in a sample of 92 high school students. The results demonstrated that life events contributed significant variance to predictions of PA, NA, and LS, over and above that of global self-concept. Also, daily events contributed variance over and above that of major life events. Looking at the specific event types that related uniquely to the positive well-being measures, only negative daily events related significantly to PA and NA, and only positive daily events related significantly to LS. The results also indicated that the positive well-being constructs each contained unique variance and had different correlates, thus providing strong support for the multidimensionality of adolescent positive well-being reports. Implications for further research and intervention programs are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The affective benefits associated with aerobic exercise are well documented. However, literature concerning resistance exercise has suggested a more variable response (i.e., a short duration increase in state anxiety, which eventually is reduced below baseline) and thus may play an important role in the adoption and maintenance of a resistance training program. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of different intensities and rest period during resistance exercise on anxiety, positive affect, and negative affect while holding volume constant and controlling for self-efficacy. Using an experimental design, individuals enrolled in a weight training class (n = 104) were randomly assigned 1 of 5 exercise conditions (control, low-long, low-short, high-long, and high-short), varying intensities, and rest time. Anxiety and positive and negative affect measurements were collected immediately following the exercise workouts. Data from separate analyses of covariance revealed a significant main effect for condition on positive affect (p = 0.026), in which the low-long group reported significantly higher positive affect than the control group, at 5-minute postexercise. Similar analysis indicated a significant main effect for time on anxiety (p = 0.003), with the highest anxiety detected at 5-minute postexercise, and significant reductions in anxiety at both 20-minute and 40-minute postexercise. In conclusion, these results suggest that the variation of intensity and rest time had a modest short-term effect on psychological states, following an acute bout of resistance exercise. Personal trainers and health professionals may want to emphasize light-intensity resistance programs for novice clients to maximize psychological benefits, which in turn, may positively affect compliance and adherence.
Behavioral models of depression highlight decreased response-contingent positive reinforcement as critical toward conceptualizing depressive affect, decreased reinforcement being caused by changes in the quantitative (i.e., number or intensity) or qualitative (i.e., type or function) aspects of reinforcing events, availability of reinforcement, inadequate instrumental behaviors, and/or an increased frequency of punishment [Lewinsohn, P. M. (1974). A behavioral approach to depression. In R. M. Friedman, & M. M. Katz (Eds.), The psychology of depression: Contemporary theory and research. New York: Wiley]. Building on previous research and addressing methodological limitations, this study utilized a daily diary method and behavioral coding system to directly assess whether qualitative aspects (or types) of human behavior differed as a function of depression level. Relative to non-depressed individuals, mildly depressed participants engaged less frequently in social, physical, and educational behaviors and more frequently in employment-related activities. These data support behavioral models of depression and have clinical relevance as highlighted with reference to behavioral activation interventions for depression.
There has been a burgeoning interest in studying daily events and experiences. This article discusses a variety of methodologic challenges that face daily event and experience researchers. The issues discussed include techniques for measuring events, the development of event checklists, sampling event content, specifying event appraisals, event validation procedures, and the creation of summary measures derived from event checklists. Procedural issues discussed include determining the number of observations and persons needed for daily event studies, the evaluation of response, attrition, and missing item bias, and problems linking event reports over time.
Regular physical activity may have psychological benefits. Our study assessed the association between extent of participation in regular sport or vigorous recreational activity and emotional wellbeing in adolescents aged 16 years.
Data were collected from a cohort of adolescents, born between April 5 and April 11, 1970, in England, Scotland, and Wales, who took part in the follow-up assessment at age 16 years. Emotional wellbeing was assessed by the general health questionnaire (GHQ) and the malaise inventory (divided into psychological and somatic subscales). Information was obtained about participation in ten team and 25 individual sports and vigorous recreational activities during the previous year. Non-vigorous recreations, such as darts and snooker, were assessed separately. Social class and health status (recent illness and use of hospital services) were included in our analyses as possible confounding factors. 2223 boys and 2838 girls with a mean age of 16.3 years (SD 0.38) were included in our analysis. Statistical analysis was by multiple linear and logistic regression.
The sport and vigorous recreational activity index was positively associated with emotional wellbeing independently of sex, social class, health status, and use of hospital services. These associations were significant for the psychological symptom subscale of the malaise inventory (regression coefficient -0.024, 95 percent Cl -0.036 to -0.011, p<0.001) and the GHQ (odds ratio of emotional distress per unit increase in vigorous physical activity 0.992, 95 percent Cl 0.985-0.998, p<O.O1). By contrast, participation in non-vigorous activities was associated with high psychological and somatic symptoms on the malaise inventory.
We conclude that emotional wellbeing is positively associated with extent of participation in sport and vigorous recreational activity among adolescents. Although causal associations cannot be assumed in this cross-sectional analysis, our results are consistent with experimental evidence that vigorous exercise has favourable effects on emotional state.
Although the literature on increased physical fitness and psychological outcomes has grown large, a number of methodological limitations remain unaddressed. The present study was designed to address a number of these limitations while examining the short- and long-term psychological effects following completion of a 12-week aerobic fitness program using bicycle ergometry (and confirmed increases in fitness).
Following completion of a 12-week aerobic fitness program (and through 12 months of follow-up), 82 adult participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Profile of Mood States, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. Physiological measures used to assess changes in aerobic fitness were maximal work load, submaximal heart rate at a standard work load, predicted maximum oxygen uptake, and resting heart rate.
Exercise participants experienced a positive fitness change and psychological improvement over the initial 12-week program compared to a control group. At 1 year follow-up, physiological and psychological benefits remained significantly improved from baseline.
Overall, results indicate that exercise-induced increases in aerobic fitness have beneficial short-term and long-term effects on psychological outcomes. We postulate that participants in the exercise group did not increase the amount of weekly exercise they performed over the 12-month follow-up period and thus the maintenance of the psychological improvements occurred concurrent with equal or lesser amounts of exercise.
The purpose of this study was to examine the exercise dose-response issue in a sample of 121 regular exercisers categorized as relatively low, moderate, or high dosage physical activity participants.
Male and female students, faculty, and staff of a midwestern university, currently engaging in various exercise modalities at least two times per week, were assessed on a variety of factors hypothesized to impact one's degree of exercise involvement.
ANOVA procedures indicated that low and high dosage groups differed significantly on the variables of age, exercise history, positive affect, and the locus of causality and stability attributional dimensions. Groups did not differ significantly in terms of body mass index, exercise efficacy, perceptions of either personal or external control over exercise behavior, or negative affective reactions to exercise behavior.
Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that individuals who exercise at varying doses of physical activity may be differentiated by certain demographic, behavioral, physiological, and psychological variables.
In the past decade, there has been renewed interest in the feasibility and efficacy of purely behavioral treatments for clinical depression. Emphasizing the functional aspects of depressive and nondepressive behavior, these treatments focus on the concept of behavioral activation, which guides implementation of procedures aimed at increasing patient activity and access to reinforcement. Although researchers have provided positive preliminary support for behavioral activation-based interventions, many fundamental issues concerning strategies, principles, and change processes involved in behavioral activation have yet to be addressed. In this paper, we compare and contrast contemporary behavioral activation interventions, explore strategies and process of change issues, clarify the basic behavioral principles underlying activation strategies, and outline questions that need to be addressed to improve outcomes and better understand the potential significance of behavioral activation as it pertains to the future of behavior therapy for depression.
The broaden-and-build theory describes the form and function of a subset of positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment and love. A key proposition is that these positive emotions broaden an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire: joy sparks the urge to play, interest sparks the urge to explore, contentment sparks the urge to savour and integrate, and love sparks a recurring cycle of each of these urges within safe, close relationships. The broadened mindsets arising from these positive emotions are contrasted to the narrowed mindsets sparked by many negative emotions (i.e. specific action tendencies, such as attack or flee). A second key proposition concerns the consequences of these broadened mindsets: by broadening an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire--whether through play, exploration or similar activities--positive emotions promote discovery of novel and creative actions, ideas and social bonds, which in turn build that individual's personal resources; ranging from physical and intellectual resources, to social and psychological resources. Importantly, these resources function as reserves that can be drawn on later to improve the odds of successful coping and survival. This chapter reviews the latest empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory and draws out implications the theory holds for optimizing health and well-being.
This study, conducted between 1998 and 2001 and analyzed in 2002 and 2003, was designed to test (1) whether exercise is an efficacious treatment for mild to moderate major depressive disorder (MDD), and (2) the dose-response relation of exercise and reduction in depressive symptoms.
The study was a randomized 2x2 factorial design, plus placebo control.
All exercise was performed in a supervised laboratory setting with adults (n =80) aged 20 to 45 years diagnosed with mild to moderate MDD.
Participants were randomized to one of four aerobic exercise treatment groups that varied total energy expenditure (7.0 kcal/kg/week or 17.5 kcal/kg/week) and frequency (3 days/week or 5 days/week) or to exercise placebo control (3 days/week flexibility exercise). The 17.5-kcal/kg/week dose is consistent with public health recommendations for physical activity and was termed "public health dose" (PHD). The 7.0-kcal/kg/week dose was termed "low dose" (LD).
The primary outcome was the score on the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD(17)).
The main effect of energy expenditure in reducing HRSD(17) scores at 12 weeks was significant. Adjusted mean HRSD(17) scores at 12 weeks were reduced 47% from baseline for PHD, compared with 30% for LD and 29% for control. There was no main effect of exercise frequency at 12 weeks.
Aerobic exercise at a dose consistent with public health recommendations is an effective treatment for MDD of mild to moderate severity. A lower dose is comparable to placebo effect.
The relation between social anxiety and hedonic activity remains poorly understood. From a self-regulatory perspective, we hypothesized that socially anxious individuals experience diminished positive experiences and events on days when they are unable to manage socially anxious feelings adequately. In this 21-day experience-sampling study, we constructed daily measures of social anxiety and emotion regulation. Greater dispositional social anxiety was associated with less positive affect and fewer positive events in everyday life. Among individuals defined as socially anxious from their scores on a global self-report measure of social anxiety, the number of positive events was lowest on days when they both were more socially anxious and tended to suppress emotions and highest on days when they were less socially anxious and more accepting of emotional experiences. Irrespective of dispositional social anxiety, participants reported the most intense positive emotions on the days when they were both least socially anxious and most accepting of emotional experiences. Possible clinical implications are discussed.
The objective of this study was to determine the association between regular physical activity and mental disorders among adults in the United States.
Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to compare the prevalence of mental disorders among those who did and did not report regular physical activity using data from the National Comorbidity Survey (n = 8098), a nationally representative sample of adults ages 15-54 in the United States.
Slightly over one-half of adults reported regular physical activity (60.3%). Regular physical activity was associated with a significantly decreased prevalence of current major depression and anxiety disorders, but was not significantly associated with other affective, substance use, or psychotic disorders. The association between regular physical activity and lower prevalence of current major depression (OR = 0.75 (0.6,0.94)), panic attacks (OR = 0.73 (0.56, 0.96)), social phobia (OR = 0.65 (0.53, 0.8)), specific phobia (OR = 0.78 (0.63, 0.97)), and agoraphobia (OR = 0.64 (0.43, 0.94)) persisted after adjusting for differences in sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported physical disorders, and comorbid mental disorders. Self-reported frequency of physical activity also showed a dose-response relation with current mental disorders.
These data document a negative association between regular physical activity and depressive and anxiety disorders among adults in the U.S. population. Future research that investigates the mechanism of this association using longitudinal data to examine the link between physical activity and incident and recurrent mental disorders across the lifespan is needed.
Activity scheduling is a behavioral treatment of depression in which patients learn to monitor their mood and daily activities, and how to increase the number of pleasant activities and to increase positive interactions with their environment. We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized effect studies of activity scheduling. Sixteen studies with 780 subjects were included. The pooled effect size indicating the difference between intervention and control conditions at post-test was 0.87 (95% CI: 0.60 - 1.15). This is a large effect. Heterogeneity was low in all analyses. The comparisons with other psychological treatments at post-test resulted in a non-significant pooled effect size of 0.13 in favor of activity scheduling. In ten studies activity scheduling was compared to cognitive therapy, and the pooled effect size indicating the difference between these two types of treatment was 0.02. The changes from post-test to follow-up for activity scheduling were non-significant, indicating that the benefits of the treatments were retained at follow-up. The differences between activity scheduling and cognitive therapy at follow-up were also non-significant. Activity scheduling is an attractive treatment for depression, not only because it is relatively uncomplicated, time-efficient and does not require complex skills from patients or therapist, but also because this meta-analysis found clear indications that it is effective.
Physical Activity. (Retrieved from http
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015). Physical Activity. (Retrieved from
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