The Pursuit of Happiness
Research spanning over decades of years have showed the powerful and positive effects of exercise. With boundless studies supporting this helpful nature of physical activity, it is only right for researchers to take a step back, and conduct a thorough review of all the research that has been amassed to date. Does the pursuit of happiness literally involve….a pursuit?
Zhang & Chen sought to look at articles stretching back to the 80s, and explored a diverse set of studies completed, which all featured varying designs, populations and origins. Two primary types of studies were explored: observational and interventional.
Observational studies were completed with healthy populations of all ages, where individuals reported physical activity and happiness via questionnaires, and researchers looked for any potential links between these two variables. Overwhelmingly, no matter the age or group, the results showed that exercise was linked well with happy emotions and positive well-being. Those who had reported higher levels of physical activity, were happier.
The interventional studies were based primarily on cancer survivors and elderly adults, individuals who are often at higher risk of negative emotions. These studies featured various exercise programs, ranging from more laid back activities like stretching to vigorous recreations like volleyball. Overall, the results were inconsistent, but a general pattern in results could be found which pointed to exercise leading to significant changes in happiness.
Changes in mood were sensitive to even one day of physical activity, which makes the smallest amount of effort matter! On the other hand, exercise seemed to have a threshold effect, where past a certain level of activity, differences between improvements in happiness were insignificant. Types of exercises were deemed to be not important in determining effectiveness, as all kinds were equally worthwhile in enhancing happiness.
Though these specific conclusions remain somewhat in the air due to the scarcity of interventional studies, the undeniable general efficacy of physical activity as a tool to improve mental well-being warrants the appropriate attention by clinicians of all domains.
This analysis showcases the need for more randomized controlled studies, the gold standard of clinical experimentation, to further test this association between exercise and happiness. Digging deeper to understand the specific why’s and how’s as to the effectiveness of physical activity, will allow health care professionals to optimize it as a prescription for happiness.
Source:
Zhang, Z., & Chen, W. (2018). A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1-18. https://link-springer com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs10902-018-9976-0
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