Exercise Deprivation on Mood - Essay Example

The Impact of Exercise Deprivation on Mood in Athletes and Non-Athletes The article is a correlational study in which the impact of exercise deprivation on athletes and non-athletes is analyzed. Exercise dependence is similar to any other kind of addiction such as drugs or alcohol abuse, wherein the individual craves for excessive physical activity without any consideration for negative effects that it can have such as an injury. One of the main reasons due to which people tend to get addicted to exercises is the increased mood improvement that it provides.

In addition, it could also be related to an eating disorder where individuals could resort to purging after exercises when they consume a high calorie meal. The tend to exercise more due to the guilt of overeating and when it helps in maintaining the body and also improves the mood, the habit would become habitual, which could turn fatal to the health of the individual. This type of behavior is found commonly among college goers who heavily depend on exercises to keep themselves fit and healthy and achieve a greater level of mood satisfaction.

Apart from normal individuals, exercise plays a vital role in case of athletes who need to maintain a certain level of fitness to overcome the pressures of the game. However, there has not been much research that has focused on what impact will exercise dependence have in case of athletes. Thus the article provides a comparative study on the impact of exercise dependence and withdrawal on the mood changes in both athletes and non-athletes. In this correlational study 46 athlete and 34 non-athletes female participants were included.

The athlete participants were not in-season players and were not attending any training at the time of the study and the sports in which they were engaged included basketball, football, swimming and diving. The non-athletes on the other hand exercised for two hours per week. The age, height, weight, demography and exercise dependence status of the participants using a exercise dependence scale were obtained. Subsequently the mood status of the participants was obtained both prior and after the study by means of a questionnaire.

The study required the participants to refrain from exercising for a period of 36 hours. The findings, however, did not show any major changes in mood between athletes and non-athletes. The athlete population showed a greater degree of exercise dependence and exhibited some negative mood symptoms only before the deprivation period, but had similar mood changes to the non-athlete population after the deprivation period. This finding actually does not help to justify the increased exercise dependence shown by athletes, suggesting that a more reliable measure for accounting exercise dependence is required.

In conclusion, based on the results observed the study suggests that a 36 hour break could be beneficial and might improve mood status of athletes. The study does carry a gender bias in the sampling as a similar population also exists among males. Additionally female athletes who performed in certain sports alone were included in the study. More information can be gleaned if participants from other sports were also part of such as study. Hence it would not be appropriate to generalize the study to a wider population and more extensive study would be required to do the same.

Considering the less scope of the study, an increased number and greater variety of population need to be examined to completely evaluate the impact that exercise deprivation may have on athlete and non-athlete populations. Reference:Schultz, Carlson A, Mahlum, A. and F.R. Ferraro. "The Impact of Exercise Deprivation on Mood in Athletes and Non-Athletes." Psychology Journal 6.2 (2009): 70-77.