IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i22p15270-d977183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Physical Exercise on Executive Function in Adults with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Falonn Contreras-Osorio

    (Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 7591538, Chile)

  • Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo

    (Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, School of Physical Therapy, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 7591538, Chile)

  • Enrique Cerda-Vega

    (Pedagogy in Physical Education and Health Career, Department of Health Science, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile)

  • Rodrigo Campos-Jara

    (Psychiatry Department, Hospital Mauricio Heyermann, Angol 4650207, Chile)

  • Cristian Martínez-Salazar

    (Department of Physical Education, Sports, and Recreation, Pedagogy in Physical Education, School of Education and Social Sciences and Humanities, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4780000, Chile)

  • Rafael E. Reigal

    (Department of Social Psychology, Social Anthropology, Social Work and Social Services, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain)

  • Antonio Hernández-Mendo

    (Department of Social Psychology, Social Anthropology, Social Work and Social Services, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain)

  • Lara Carneiro

    (Physical Education Department, College of Education, United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi 112612, United Arab Emirates
    Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, CIDESD, University of Maia, ISMAI, 4475-690 Maia, Portugal)

  • Christian Campos-Jara

    (Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 7591538, Chile)

Abstract

Executive function is among the most affected cognitive dimensions in depression. Physical exercise may improve executive function (e.g., working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility), although this is without consensus on adults with depression. Through this systematic review, we aim to elucidate the effects of physical exercise programs on executive functions in adults with depression. The literature search was performed in four relevant electronic databases, combining keywords and medical subject headings, from inception until September 2022. Controlled interventions, involving adults with depression, and reporting working memory, inhibition, and/or cognitive flexibility pre-post-intervention data, were considered includable. Results from meta-analyses included effect size (ES, i.e., Hedges’ g) values reported with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs), with p set at ≤0.05. Seven studies were included, including 202 men and 457 women (age: 21.0–51.2 years; mild–moderate depression). For working memory, a small favoring effect was observed in the experimental groups compared with controls (ES = 0.33, 95%CI = 0.04–0.61; p = 0.026; I 2 = 64.9%). For inhibition, physical exercise had a small favoring non-significant effect compared with controls (ES = 0.28, 95%CI = −0.17–0.74; p = 0.222; I 2 = 72.4%). Compared with the control group, physical exercise had a trivial effect on cognitive flexibility (ES = 0.09, 95%CI = −0.21–0.39; p = 0.554; I 2 = 68.4%). In conclusion, physical exercise interventions may improve working memory behavioral measures in adults with mild-to-moderate depression when compared with active and passive control conditions. However, the reduced number of available high-quality studies precludes more lucid conclusions.

Suggested Citation

  • Falonn Contreras-Osorio & Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo & Enrique Cerda-Vega & Rodrigo Campos-Jara & Cristian Martínez-Salazar & Rafael E. Reigal & Antonio Hernández-Mendo & Lara Carneiro & Christian Campo, 2022. "Effects of Physical Exercise on Executive Function in Adults with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-22, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:15270-:d:977183
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15270/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/15270/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kerri Smith, 2014. "Mental health: A world of depression," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7526), pages 180-181, November.
    2. Lara Carneiro & José Afonso & Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo & Eugenia Murawska-Ciałowciz & Adilson Marques & Filipe Manuel Clemente, 2020. "The Effects of Exclusively Resistance Training-Based Supervised Programs in People with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Colin D Mathers & Dejan Loncar, 2006. "Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(11), pages 1-20, November.
    4. Mario Sánchez & Javier Sanchez-Sanchez & Fabio Y. Nakamura & Filipe M. Clemente & Blanca Romero-Moraleda & Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo, 2020. "Effects of Plyometric Jump Training in Female Soccer Player’s Physical Fitness: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-23, November.
    5. Chiara Fossati & Guglielmo Torre & Sebastiano Vasta & Arrigo Giombini & Federico Quaranta & Rocco Papalia & Fabio Pigozzi, 2021. "Physical Exercise and Mental Health: The Routes of a Reciprocal Relation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-10, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Falonn Contreras-Osorio & Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo & Enrique Cerda-Vega & Rodrigo Campos-Jara & Cristian Martínez-Salazar & Rafael E. Reigal & Verónica Morales-Sanchez & Sergio Araya Sierralta & Chris, 2022. "Effects of Physical Exercise on Executive Function in Adults with Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Jia Lu & Shabana Jamani & Joseph Benjamen & Eric Agbata & Olivia Magwood & Kevin Pottie, 2020. "Global Mental Health and Services for Migrants in Primary Care Settings in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-28, November.
    3. Matthijs van den Berg & Filip Smit & Theo Vos & Pieter H M van Baal, 2011. "Cost-Effectiveness of Opportunistic Screening and Minimal Contact Psychotherapy to Prevent Depression in Primary Care Patients," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(8), pages 1-7, August.
    4. Ide, Hiroo & Mollahaliloglu, Salih, 2009. "How firms set prices for medical materials: A multi-country study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 73-78, September.
    5. Jing Zhao & Yukari Nagai & Wei Gao & Tao Shen & Youming Fan, 2023. "The Effects of Interior Materials on the Restorativeness of Home Environments," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-11, July.
    6. Eldon Spackman & Stewart Richmond & Mark Sculpher & Martin Bland & Stephen Brealey & Rhian Gabe & Ann Hopton & Ada Keding & Harriet Lansdown & Sara Perren & David Torgerson & Ian Watt & Hugh MacPherso, 2014. "Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Acupuncture, Counselling and Usual Care in Treating Patients with Depression: The Results of the ACUDep Trial," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-12, November.
    7. Peele, Morgan & Wolf, Sharon, 2020. "Predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms among teachers in Ghana: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    8. Carsten Hinrichsen & Vibeke Jenny Koushede & Katrine Rich Madsen & Line Nielsen & Nanna Gram Ahlmark & Ziggi Ivan Santini & Charlotte Meilstrup, 2020. "Implementing Mental Health Promotion Initiatives—Process Evaluation of the ABCs of Mental Health in Denmark," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-26, August.
    9. Gianni Tognoni & Alejandro Macchia, 2020. "Health as a Human Right: A Fake News in a Post-human World?," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 63(2), pages 270-276, December.
    10. Renske Kok & Mauricio Avendano & Teresa Bago d’Uva & Johan Mackenbach, 2012. "Can Reporting Heterogeneity Explain Differences in Depressive Symptoms Across Europe?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(2), pages 191-210, January.
    11. Emmanuel Peprah & Elisabet Caler & Anya Snyder & Fassil Ketema, 2020. "Deconstructing Syndemics: The Many Layers of Clustering Multi-Comorbidities in People Living with HIV," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-7, June.
    12. Qiumei Xu & Fangfen Yuan & Xuemei Shen & Hui Wen & Wei Li & Bei Cheng & Jing Wu, 2014. "Polymorphisms of C242T and A640G in CYBA Gene and the Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, January.
    13. Hoehun Ha & Wei Tu, 2018. "An Ecological Study on the Spatially Varying Relationship between County-Level Suicide Rates and Altitude in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-16, April.
    14. Eduardo Martínez-Martínez & María Luisa Zaragoza & Elmer Solano & Brenda Figueroa & Patricia Zúñiga & Juan P Laclette, 2012. "Health Research Funding in Mexico: The Need for a Long-Term Agenda," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(12), pages 1-11, December.
    15. Zarish Noreen & Christopher A. Loffredo & Attya Bhatti & Jyothirmai J. Simhadri & Gail Nunlee-Bland & Thomas Nnanabu & Peter John & Jahangir S. Khan & Somiranjan Ghosh, 2020. "Transcriptional Profiling and Biological Pathway(s) Analysis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Pakistani Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-20, August.
    16. Joern Birkmann & Susan Cutter & Dale Rothman & Torsten Welle & Matthias Garschagen & Bas Ruijven & Brian O’Neill & Benjamin Preston & Stefan Kienberger & Omar Cardona & Tiodora Siagian & Deny Hidayati, 2015. "Scenarios for vulnerability: opportunities and constraints in the context of climate change and disaster risk," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 53-68, November.
    17. Weijie Yu & Yijia Gong & Xiaozhen Lai & Jianping Liu & Hongguo Rong, 2023. "Sleep Duration and Risk of Depression: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Adults," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-11, March.
    18. Kimberley E Wever & Carlijn R Hooijmans & Niels P Riksen & Thomas B Sterenborg & Emily S Sena & Merel Ritskes-Hoitinga & Michiel C Warlé, 2015. "Determinants of the Efficacy of Cardiac Ischemic Preconditioning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Animal Studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    19. Junyan Teng & Yanping Wei & Fengming Su & Zhiping Guo & Jing-Quan Zhong, 2015. "Evaluating of Physiological Chemical Levels in Blood to Assess the Risk of Morbidity and Mortality of Ischemic Cardiovascular Disease," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-11, September.
    20. Rongtao Jiang & Stephanie Noble & Matthew Rosenblatt & Wei Dai & Jean Ye & Shu Liu & Shile Qi & Vince D. Calhoun & Jing Sui & Dustin Scheinost, 2024. "The brain structure, inflammatory, and genetic mechanisms mediate the association between physical frailty and depression," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:15270-:d:977183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.