A systematic review of clinical studies on exercise in prevention and treatment of depression among adolescents and young students
(2016) Annual Congress of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine — Location: Leuven, Belgium
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- Introduction Suicide is the third cause of death in students aged 12 to 25. Among the treatments of depression, physical exercise is already proposed in adults, based on good quality evidence. The therapeutic effects of physical exercise upon depression are however less clear in youngsters. Aim To document the effectiveness of physical exercise for preventing or treating depression in students aged 12 to 25, by conducting a systematic review of evidence-based literature. Methods A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and APA PsycNet. Eligible publications were prospective or retrospective cohort studies examining the association between physical activity and depression in subjects aged 12-25, with pre- and post-intervention data using validated depression scales. Key words used in four specific research algorithms were: physical activity, supervised exercise, prevention, treatment, depression, teenagers, young, students. Results Twenty articles, selected between 2005 and September 2016, among which, two meta-analyses on children and adolescents and on university students, met the inclusion criteria. Slight benefit of exercise compared to no intervention or to placebo intervention was observed. However, statistical power of observed results was moderate, due to a lack of randomized controlled studies. Conclusions. Exercise may be an effective therapy to prevent or treat depression in adolescents and high school or university students. Further clinical trials in this target population are needed, with strict design and larger samples.
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Lombardo, C., Bleyenheuft, Y., Caty, G., & De Volder, A. (2016). A systematic review of clinical studies on exercise in prevention and treatment of depression among adolescents and young students. Annual Congress of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Leuven, Belgium. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/176583