Same-Day and Lagged Relationships of Affect and Exercise

Introduction: Meta-analyses have found that exercise intervention programs for 4-32 weeks increase pleasant mood (Reed & Buck, 2009; Reed & Ones, 2006). Two ambulatory assessment studies found significant effects of low intensity physical activity on positive affect, but not on negative affect (Schwerdtfeger et al., 2008; Wichers et al., 2012). A more recent daily diary study found that participants showed less negative affect and increased positive affect after engaging in more activity than usual earlier in the day (Haas, 2017). It may be the case that increased frequency and intensity of exercise contributes to longer-lasting mood effects throughout the day. This study explores the same-day and next-day relationships of exercise and affect.

Methods: 104 undergraduate psychology students from a Mid-Atlantic public university completed the study for course credit. For 21 consecutive days, participants completed 10- to 15-minute Qualtrics surveys on their phone or laptop about their health behaviors and psychological well-being.

Results: Daily moderate exercise predicted positive mood (γ₁₀ = 0.009819; t=4.681; p<0.001), and daily vigorous exercise predicted positive mood (γ₁₀ = 0.01100; t=4.286; p<0.001). Additionally, positive mood predicted both moderate (γ₁₀ = 1.665105; t=4.403; p<0.001) and vigorous exercise (γ₁₀ = 1.094875; t=4.832; p<0.001). The moderate exercise to negative mood relationship approached significance (γ₁₀ = -0.002569; t=-1.860; p=0.066), and the relationship from negative mood to moderate exercise approached significance (γ₁₀ = -0.623202; t=-1.889; p=0.062). In terms of lagged relationships, previous day moderate exercise was related to positive mood on the current day (γ₂₀= 0.008036; t=5.5159; p<0.001), and the previous day positive mood to moderate exercise relationship approached significance (γ₂₀=0.463783; t=1.929; p=0.057).

Conclusions: These findings suggest the importance of moderate exercise in particular for increasing positive mood on the same-day or next-day, and for decreasing negative mood on the same-day or next-day. Thus, moderate exercise may be particularly helpful for individuals who have depressive symptoms.