Deck 11: Depression and Exercise

Question 1

What evidence is there to support the assertion that exercise can be useful in the treatment of depression?

Answer 1

No Answer.

Question 2

What is known from the cross-sectional and prospective studies regarding the association between (lack of) activity and depression?

Answer 2

No Answer.

Question 3

If one was to prescribe exercise to an individual suffering from depression, what would the prescription entail (i.e., type, frequency, intensity, duration)?

Answer 3

No Answer.

Question 4

Several recent studies examining the effects of exercise on depression have shown that exercise does not alleviate depressive symptoms better than pharmacological (i.e., drug) treatments. As an exercise scientist, how would you use this evidence to convince others that exercise is worth the effort for the depressed individual?

Question 5

Among mental disorders, depression can be particularly debilitating. Regarding disability and disease burden, which of the following is true?

A) Major depression ranks in the top three worldwide.
B) In the workplace, depression is not a cause of absenteeism.
C) While problematic, depression does not rank that highly compared to others conditions.
D) Both A and C are true.

Question 6

Which of the following is true with respect to the psychological benefits of exercise?

A) Exercise can have beneficial emotional effects, but only for males.
B) Exercise has not been found to be effective in the professional treatment of severe depression.
C) Exercise can be associated with a decreased level of mild to moderate depression.
D) Long-term exercise is usually associated with increases in neuroticism and anxiety.

Question 7

Which of the following individuals was instrumental in the early research examining fitness levels in depressed patients?

A) Robert Cattell
B) William Morgan
C) Hans Selye
D) James Blumenthal

Question 8

Which of the following types of exercise reliably reduce(s) depression?

A) Resistance training
B) Stretching and flexibility
C) Aerobic exercise
D) Both A and C

Question 9

Reductions in depression are seen in exercise programs lasting how long?

A) 8 weeks or less
B) 16 weeks or more
C) 8 to 16 weeks
D) All of the above

Question 10

-From the figure depicted above, which of the following could be surmised?

A) The person feels better on days when he or she exercises.
B) On days when the person feels better, he or she is more likely to exercise.
C) There is no relationship between exercise and mood based on this data.
D) Either A or B could be concluded.

Question 11

In the exercise-clinical depression study by Blumenthal and colleagues (the SMILE study), which of the treatments worked the best in alleviating depression symptoms (as indicated by the depression rating scales used to assess these symptoms) following the 16-week intervention?

A) Medication group
B) Exercise group
C) Combination group
D) All groups had similar reductions in symptoms

Question 12

The analysis of the large epidemiological data by Goodwin (2003), which showed that as levels of physical activity increased the likelihood of experiencing depressive disorders decreased, reflected a dose-response relationship.

Question 13

There is clear and abundant evidence that exercise alleviates depression through the release of endorphins and their subsequent pain-killing effects.

Question 14

In the exercise-clinical depression study by Blumenthal and colleagues (the SMILE study), which of the treatments had the best success when considering the percentage of individuals who had either recovered or at least partially recovered at a 6-month follow-up period?

A) Medication group
B) Exercise group
C) Combination group
D) All groups had similar success rates

Question 15

Of the numerous hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the depression-reducing effects of exercise, which is based on the idea that humans have a genetic predisposition to be physically active?

A) Anthropological hypothesis
B) Mastery hypothesis
C) Monoamine hypothesis
D) Psychobiological hypothesis

Question 16

Explanations for the depression-reducing effects of exercise include which of the following?

A) Production of endorphins that reduce sensations of pain
B) Development of a sense of mastery and self-control through regular exercise
C) Changes in catecholamine levels known to be associated with depression (e.g., norepinephrine)
D) All of the above

Question 17

Recall the work of Farmer and colleagues (1988). In their prospective study of exercise and depression in women, what did they find?

A) Sedentary or low active women were twice as likely to develop depression over an eight-year follow-up period as active women.
B) Active women were twice as likely to develop depression over an eight-year follow-up as sedentary women.
C) Baseline level of activity was unrelated to the development of depression over time.
D) Becoming more active over time did not have any influence on depression levels.

Question 18

What was the nature of the relationship between self-reported physical activity and better mental health across the four large epidemiological samples surveyed by Stephens (1988)?

A) Negative
B) Positive
C) Inverse
D) No relationship was found

Question 19

A study examining the effectiveness of an aerobic exercise intervention (compared to a waiting list control condition) on depressive symptoms in HIV-infected adults was discussed in the text. What was the main outcome of this work?

A) No change in depressive symptoms for either group (exercise or control)
B) Increase in depressive symptoms in exercise group; no change in control
C) Decrease in depressive symptoms in exercise group; no change in control
D) No change in depressive symptoms in exercise group; increase in symptoms in control group

Question 20

The fact that reductions in depression are seen when individuals exercised in a laboratory environment by themselves argues against which of the following potential explanations for such an effect?

A) Anthropological hypothesis
B) Social interaction hypothesis
C) Endorphin hypothesis
D) Mastery hypothesis

Question 21

Individuals with major depressive disorder can improve their physical health through exercise training.