Impact of Aerobic Exercises on Self-Efficacy, Anxiety and Depression among University Students

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of 6-week aerobic exercise program in university students experiencing
mild to moderate depression and anxiety to alleviate their psychological symptoms. Additionally, this exercise
program also analyzed the effect of aerobic exercises on general self-efficacy of students with mild moderate
psychological problems. The students involved in the study were medical and allied health students pursuing
the course of physiotherapy, dental and pharmacy.
Materials and Methods: A total of 117 participants were screened for presence of anxiety and depression.
The students were then examined for their level of self-efficacy. 45 participants were included in the study
as they exhibited mild to moderate anxiety and depression. Participants were included in the study based on
the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These were then randomly allocated to 2 groups using stratified random
sampling using lottery method. The intervention group was given 6-week aerobic training and the other was
control group. The aerobic training program was given for 6 weeks, 5 days/week. And control group was given
counselling to perform any regular form of exercise. General Self-efficacy scale (GSE) was used to measure level
of self-efficacy, beck anxiety inventory (BAI) and beck depression inventory II (BDI II) has been used to evaluate
the level of anxiety and depression respectively
Results: For the two groups pre-intervention scores and post-intervention scores were taken on GSE, BAI,
and BDI. Within group analysis for the three variables was done using paired t test. The results revealed
that self-efficacy, depression and anxiety scores improved in experimental group. In control group there was
some improvement in the levels of anxiety but not in depression and self-efficacy. On comparing both groups
using independent t test there was significant improvement in the intervention group in all three variables as
compared to control group.
Conclusion: A six-week aerobic training program was given to university students and it was compared with
exercise education only. The results strongly suggest the use of well-designed aerobic exercises program to
mitigate the symptoms of anxiety, depression in university students. The results also emphasized that aerobic
exercises program can improve student’s self-efficacy.