The Relationship between Mental Health Status and Exercise Frequency in a Sample of Texas Women

Background and Purpose: Women are more likely to experience a psychiatric disorder than men, which are associated with numerous negative outcomes including increased risk of chronic illness and premature mortality. While several studies have documented the impact of exercise on mental illness prevention and reduction of symptoms, less research has focused on the reciprocal relationship between mental health status and exercise frequency. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of women’s mental health status on three different exercise frequency outcomes.

 Method: A secondary data analysis was conducted using all women from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults? (N=925) (Musick, 2004). Three dependent variables were assessed in this analysis: days per week of walking activity, moderate exercise, and strenuous activity. The independent variable examined in this study was mental health status scores derived from responses to six items assessing participants’ negative feelings experienced in the last thirty days. All six items were added together to create a total score ranging from 6 to 30, with higher scores representing better mental health. Cronbach’s alpha for the mental health status variable was .81. Control variables included age, race, marital status, employment status, education level, financial struggle, and subjective physical health. Poisson regression models were used to test the relationship between the control variables and mental health status, and the three exercise frequency outcomes.

Results: The female survey participants ranged from 18 to 94 years old (M=46.26, SD=16.54) and a majority of the participants were married (56%). Most of the women were white (65%), had a high school education or higher (90%), and had at least a somewhat difficult time paying bills (57%). Half of the women were employed. The average subjective physical health rating was 2.57 (range 1-5, SD=1.10) and mental health status score was 24.47 (range 6-30, SD=4.55). Average exercise days per week was 2.95 for walking, 1.93 for moderate exercise, and 1.58 for strenuous exercise. Results of the Poisson regression analyses indicated that all three models were statistically significant in predicting exercise frequency. After controlling for age, race, marital status, employment status, education level, financial struggle, and subjective physical health, mental health status was not significantly related to walking or moderate exercise frequency, however, mental health status was significantly related to strenuous exercise frequency (IRR=1.03, p=.001). Specifically, a one unit increase in mental health scores was associated with 3% increase in exercise frequency.

 Conclusions and Implications: The results suggest that mental health status is significantly related to strenuous exercise frequency in a sample of Texas women, emphasizing the powerful relationship between mental health and physical health conditions. Because strenuous exercise is related to improved health outcomes and decreased risk for several chronic conditions, these results also suggest that decreased exercise due to poor mental health is one pathway in which mental illness can lead to worse physical health outcomes. Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, more research is needed on the relationship between mental health, exercise, and physical health outcomes in women.