David S. Holmes

Influence of aerobic exercise on depression.

: Forty-three depressed women were randomly assigned to either (a) an aerobic exercise treatment condition in which they participated in strenuous exercise, (b) a placebo treatment condition in which they practiced relaxation exercises, or (c) a no-treatment condition. Aerobic capacity was assessed before and after the 10-week treatment period. Self-reported depression was assessed before, during, and after the treatment period. The results indicated that subjects in the aerobic exercise condition evidenced reliably greater improvements in aerobic capacity than did the subjects in either of the other conditions (p less than .002 in both cases) and that the subjects in the aerobic exercise condition evidenced reliably greater decreases in depression than did subjects in the placebo condition (p = .05) or subjects in the no-treatment condition (p = .001). These results provide the first controlled evidence concerning the effects of strenuous exercise on depression.

Influence of aerobic exercise training and relaxation training on physical and psychologic health following stressful life events.

&NA; An experiment was conducted to determine whether aerobic exercise training or relaxation training would be effective for reducing the deleterious effects of life stress on physical and psychologic health. Over 1000 college students were surveyed, and 55 of those who reported experiencing a high number of negative life events over the preceding year were assigned to an aerobic exercise training condition, a relaxation training condition, or a no‐treatment control condition. Physical and psychologic health were assessed with self‐report measures before, halfway through, immediately following, and 8 weeks after the 11‐week training (and control) period. Heart rate data collected during a treadmill test indicated that the aerobic exercise training was effective for improving cardiovascular fitness. Psychologic measures indicated that the exercise training condition was more effective than the other two conditions for reducing depression during the first 5 weeks of training. No differences were found among the conditions on self‐report measures of physical health. These findings suggest that aerobic exercise training may be useful for reducing the severity and duration of depressive reactions following stressful life change.

Cortisol levels and anxiety-related behaviors in cattle

This investigation was conducted to examine the relationship between cortisol levels and anxiety-related behavior in nine Angus/Hereford cows. In a non-stressful pasture setting, measures were taken of rumination, distance from another cow, and body position. In a stressful holding pen situation, measures were taken of vocalizations and resistance to entering a squeeze chute. Cortisol was measured in serum samples. Subjects with high levels of cortisol spent less time ruminating (p=0.007) and vocalized more (p=0.07) than subjects with low levels of cortisol. Regardless of statistical significance, all mean differences were in the predicted direction. Cortisol levels were correlated with time spent ruminating (p=0.004) and later entrance to the squeeze chute (p=0.10). All correlations were also in the predicted direction. These findings provide consistent support for the link between cortisol and anxiety-related behavior in beef cattle, and the findings have theoretical and practical implications.

Influence of a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program on the cardiovascular, psychological, and social functioning of cardiac patients

Twenty-eight male cardiac patients who had either experienced myocardial infarction or undergone coronary bypass surgery were assigned to a treatment condition and participated in a 3-month, exercise-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, whereas 20 other cardiac patients were assigned to a routine-care condition and did not participate in the rehabilitation program. Cardiovascular, psychological, and psychosocial functioning were assessed before treatment or routine care was begun, after 3 months of treatment or routine care, and 4 months later. Results indicated that patients in the treatment condition evidenced reliably more efficient cardiovascular functioning (resting heart rate, resting diastolic blood pressure, treadmill exercise performance, exercise heart rate, exercise systolic blood pressure), better understanding of heart disease, better understanding of and reported compliance with treatment recommendations, more positive self-perceptions (health, body concept, self-concept, progress toward goals), and better psychosocial functioning (e.g., decreased employmentrelated stress, more active use and enjoyment of leisure time, more physical and sexual activity). Chronic patients benefited as much from the treatment as did acute patients, and the beneficial effects for all treated patients were evident not only just after rehabilitation, but also 4 months later. This investigation appears to be the first such test of effects of this type of treatment, and the results have wide generalizability and applicability.

THE UTILITY OF PROLONGED RESPIRATORY EXHALATION FOR REDUCING PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL AROUSAL IN NON-THREATENING AND THREATENING SITUATIONS*

To determine whether slowing and altering the respiratory pattern is an effective means for reducing physiological and psychological arousal, subjects participated in one of three treatment conditions in which they reduced their respiration rate to 6 cpm and either inhaled quickly and exhaled slowly, inhaled slowly and exhaled quickly, or spent equal amounts of time inhaling and exhaling. Other subjects participated in a distraction control condition or in a no-treatment control condition. Arousal was measured during a practice period, a threat (electrical shocks) anticipation period, and a threat confrontation period. The results indicated that the breathing manipulations were not effective in reducing arousal during the practice period, but that inhaling quickly and exhaling slowly was consistently effective for reducing physiological (skin resistance) and psychological (subjective cognitive) arousal during the anticipation and confrontation periods.

Influence of physical fitness in determining the impact of stressful life events on physical and psychologic health

&NA; To determine whether physical fitness (aerobic capacity) moderated the relationship between stressful life events and subsequent illness, 112 subjects first reported their life changes (stress) for the preceeding 12 months and then had their fitness assessed with a submaximal bicycle ergometer test. For the next 9 weeks, the subjects kept records concerning their physical health (e.g., ailments, doctor visits, medication usage), and at the end of that period they completed forms that measured psychologic symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, alienation). Multiple regression analyses revealed that a high level of life stress during the preceding year was related to poorer subsequent physical health for subjects with a low level of fitness in particular. Life stress was found to have little impact on the subsequent physical health of fit subjects. Similar results were found for depression. These results indicate that fitness does moderate the stress‐illness relationship and suggest that increasing fitness may be a way of diminishing the effects of unavoidable stress.

Effects of paced respiration and expectations on physiological and psychological responses to threat.

While waiting to receive electric shocks, 105 males either (a) regulated their breathing at one half the normal rate, (b) regulated their breathing at the normal rate, or (c) did not regulate their breathing rate. Half of the subjects in each breathing condition were told that their breathing task would aid them in relaxing, whereas the other half were not given that expectation. Subjects in a no threat condition were not threatened with shocks, did not regulate their breathing, and were not provided with expectations. The results indicated that slowing respiration rate reduced physiological arousal as measured by skin resistance and finger pulse volume (but not heart rate) and reduced self-reports of anxiety. Expectations did not influence arousal. These data provide evidence for the effectiveness of paced respiration as a coping strategy, and they resolve the conflicting findings of previous investigations.

An Alternative Perspective Concerning the Differential Psychophysiological Responsivity of Persons with the Type A and Type B Behavior Patterns.

Abstract A systematic review of the task-related differences in physiological arousal between Type A and Type B persons revealed that the differences are less consistent and of a smaller magnitude than what is usually assumed. Specifically, only 6 of the 24 experiments dealing with heart rate revealed reliable differences: only 4 of the 18 experiments dealing with diastolic blood pressure revealed realiable differences; and only 13 of the 20 experiments dealing with systolic blood pressure revealed reliable differences. Furthermore, the median difference in systolic blood pressure between Type A and Type B persons who were working on tasks is only 6 mm Hg. This summary probably constitutes a “liberal” estimate of the consistency and magnitude of the differences because it is based only on published investigations and because many investigations involved numerous comparisons. Hypotheses for the patterning of results were discussed. Conclusions based on this summary have a variety of implications for interpreting the research concerning personality type and coronary heart disease.

Exercise, changes in aerobic capacity, and changes in self-perceptions: An experimental investigation

Abstract Subjects in an exercise training condition participated in a 10-week aerobic exercise class, whereas subjects in waiting-list control and independent control conditions did not. The results indicated that subjects in the training condition evidenced reliably greater improvements in physical fitness (aerobic capacity) and reported reliably greater improvements in their abilities and confidence in both the physical area (e.g., ability to run distances) and nonphysical area (e.g., frustration tolerance) than did subjects in the control conditions. On the other hand, improvements in physical fitness were not related to reported improvements in abilities and confidence. These findings are of interest because they indicate that some of the important personal changes that are associated with physical fitness training are not due to changes in fitness, but appear to be due to other factors (e.g., group participation and expectancies).

Expression of interpersonal aggression by angered and nonangered persons with the Type A and Type B behavior patterns.

Thirty-seven subjects with the Type A or the Type B behavior pattern were first either angered or not angered in a problem-solving task by a confederate who posed as another subject. In a subsequent bogus learning experiment, the Type A and Type B subjects had the opportunity to punish or reward the confederate. The effectiveness of the anger manipulation was attested to by the fact that angered subjects had reliably higher pulse rates, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. In the learning experiment, Type A subjects who had not been angered gave the confederate reliably higher levels of punishment than did Type B subjects, but there was not a difference in the levels of punishment given by Type A and Type B subjects who had been angered. There was not a difference between Type A and Type B subjects in the levels of reward they gave the confederate. The results provided behavioral evidence for aggression in persons with the Type A behavior pattern. The fact that the difference in aggression was limited to nonangered subjects was interpreted in terms of differences in attributions of responsibility.