The effects of a walking intervention on depressive feelings and social adaptation in healthy workers

Abstract

The effects of walking on mental health problems among healthy Japanese workers are not fully understood. In the present study, we investigated the effects of a four-week walking program on the psychological functioning of a nonclinical sample of healthy workers in Japan. A total of 606 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study and were evaluated by the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS) both before and after the walking program. The subjects were divided into an exercising group and a non-exercising group. There were significant differences in the SDS and SASS scores between the exercising and the non-exercising groups. Following the walking program, the non-exercising group's SDS scores decreased and their SASS scores increased compared to before the walking program. In contrast, the SDS and SASS scores of the exercising group did not change. These results suggest that subjects who exercise regularly experience fewer depressive feelings and exhibit better social adaptation in the workplace than those who do not exercise. The walking program improved depressive feelings and social adaptation in the non-exercising group.