Cardio and COVID: The impact of exercise on mental health during a pandemic

Exercise has been shown to positively impact stress levels and is being promoted as a means of improving mental health during the coronavirus pandemic. Theoretically, this is well justified as engaging in regular exercise reduces the risk of developing chronic mental illnesses and promotes the management of symptoms for those with pre-existing conditions. However, this recommendation has yet to be evaluated during the midst of the global pandemic, which has led many individuals to find their resources stretched beyond capacity. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the claim that exercising during the pandemic would serve to protect mental health. It was hypothesized that individuals who engage in more moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) would have better mental health (i.e., lower anxiety and depression and better overall mental wellbeing) because they were experiencing less stress.
Our cross-sectional community sample consisted of 3428 adults over the age of 18 (63.6% female). Participants reported engaging in an average of one and a half hours of MVPA per day. The hypothesis was tested using three mediation models, with stress (measured via Perceived Stress Scale) serving as the mediator in all three models. Across models, higher levels of physical activity significantly predicted lower levels of anxiety (measured via Beck Anxiety Inventory), depression (measured via Beck Depression Inventory II), and higher levels of overall wellbeing (measured via Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale; ps < .01). The mediation models were significant for anxiety (completely standardized indirect effect = -.08), depression (completely standardized indirect effect = -.10), and overall mental wellbeing (completely standardized indirect effect = .11; ps < .05). That is, better mental health among those who exercise regularly may be partly attributed to their lower stress levels. However, it could also be that those with better mental health were more likely to exercise because they had lower stress levels.
The present research provides evidence for promoting exercise as a means of protecting overall mental health, as well as anxiety and depression, during the pandemic through stress reduction. Future research should examine other possible mediators (e.g., income) as well as the boundary conditions of this recommendation as some individuals may not have the necessary resources to engage effectively in MVPA during the pandemic.