(PS2-31) Physical Activity Interventions to Support Mental Health Outcomes: A Scoping Review

Engagement in physical activity (PA) enhances physical and mental health-related outcomes. Despite the positive effects of PA, individuals living with mental health disorders often encounter barriers to consistent engagement in PA. A number of behavioral interventions exist to support engagement in PA. We conducted a scoping review of the key components and outcomes of PA behavioral interventions administered among individuals living with mental health issues, noting diagnosis, study design, study measures, intervention duration, and study implications. This review will inform our development of a mobile phone application-based intervention for supporting engagement in PA. We conducted a comprehensive review using PubMed and PsycInfo (EBSCO). Articles that included keywords such as exercise, physical activity, anxiety, resistance exercise training, aerobic exercise, interval training, depression, and metabolic equivalents and were published between 1990 to 2021 were included in the review. Further, studies were included if they had PA interventions targeted at addressing anxiety and anxiety-related symptoms, or focused on populations with comorbid mental health conditions such as anxiety. Studies were excluded if they contained unspecific exercise interventions, participants had a co-occurring medical condition, or the sample size was smaller than 15. Twenty-five studies were included in the review. Across these studies, study populations included individuals living with anxiety, depression, and other anxiety-related symptoms such as worry and stress. PA interventions included yoga, resistance training, high-intensity interval training, dancing, and aerobic exercises such as cycling, running, jogging, and walking. Interventions ranged from 1 week to 8 weeks. Study measures included both pre- and post- measures of self-report questionnaires of mental health symptoms (e.g., Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ-GAD), The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale – 21 Items), as well as biometric data (e.g., VO2 max, body mass index, heart rate). Commonly-identified barriers to engagement in treatment and study retention included demotivation, non-adherence to protocol, and exhaustion. Overall, engagement in PA was associated with positive mental health-related outcomes in 24 of the 25 studies. Studies indicated that engagement in PA can enhance symptoms in individuals living with mental health diagnoses. Future work should aim to increase the sample size within studies, as well as support the adoption of these interventions across broader populations. Towards this goal, our group is currently developing a mobile phone application-based PA intervention.