IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i21p8059-d438661.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Running and Mental Health

Author

Listed:
  • Freya Oswald

    (Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK)

  • Jennifer Campbell

    (Edinburgh Medical School, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK)

  • Chloë Williamson

    (Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK)

  • Justin Richards

    (Faculty of Health, Victoria University Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand)

  • Paul Kelly

    (Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC), University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK)

Abstract

Poor mental health contributes significantly to global morbidity. The evidence regarding physical benefits of running are well-established. However, the mental health impacts of running remain unclear. An overview of the relationship between running and mental health has not been published in the last 30 years. The purpose of this study was to review the literature on the relationship between running and mental health. Our scoping review used combinations of running terms (e.g., Run* and Jog*) and mental health terms (general and condition specific). Databases used were Ovid(Medline), Ovid(Embase), ProQuest and SportDiscus. Quantitative study types reporting on the relationships between running and mental health were included. Database searches identified 16,401 studies; 273 full-texts were analysed with 116 studies included. Overall, studies suggest that running bouts of variable lengths and intensities, and running interventions can improve mood and mental health and that the type of running can lead to differential effects. However, lack of controls and diversity in participant demographics are limitations that need to be addressed. Cross-sectional evidence shows not only a range of associations with mental health but also some associations with adverse mental health (such as exercise addiction). This review identified extensive literature on the relationship between running and mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Freya Oswald & Jennifer Campbell & Chloë Williamson & Justin Richards & Paul Kelly, 2020. "A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Running and Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-39, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8059-:d:438661
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8059/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8059/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Christy Teranishi Martinez & Crista Scott Tappan & Harley Baker & Makayla Edwards & Juliane Martinez, 2023. "Sexual Harassment and Assault across Trail and Ultrarunning Communities: A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Gender Differences," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Nannan Zhang & Fengxin Sun & Yongsheng Zhu & Qinglan Zheng & Changjun Jia & Yupeng Mao & Bing Liu, 2023. "Effects of Fitness Dance and Funny Running on Anxiety of Female Ph.D. Candidates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-11, January.
    3. Christina M. Blackmon & Larry A. Tucker & Bruce W. Bailey & Lance E. Davidson, 2023. "Time Spent Jogging/Running and Biological Aging in 4458 U.S. Adults: An NHANES Investigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(19), pages 1-13, October.
    4. Allison Dunne & Steve Haake & Helen Quirk & Alice Bullas, 2021. "Motivation to Improve Mental Wellbeing via Community Physical Activity Initiatives and the Associated Impacts—A Cross-Sectional Survey of UK parkrun Participants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-13, December.
    5. Nadine Schuurman & Leah Rosenkrantz & Scott A. Lear, 2021. "Environmental Preferences and Concerns of Recreational Road Runners," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-19, June.

    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:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8059-:d:438661. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.