Code for: Long-term efficacy of exercise across diagnostically heterogenous mental disorders and the mediating role of affect regulation skills

Background: Exercise interventions are efficacious in reducing disorder-specific symptoms in various mental disorders. However, little is known about long-term transdiagnostic efficacy of exercise across heterogenous mental disorders and the potential mechanisms underlying treatment effects. Methods: Physically inactive outpatients, with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, insomnia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were randomized to a standardized 12-week exercise intervention, combining moderate exercise with behaviour change techniques (BCTs) (n = 38), or a passive control group (n = 36). Primary outcome was global symptom severity (Symptom Checklist-90, SCL-90-R) and secondary outcomes were self-reported exercise (Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sport Questionnaire), exercise-specific affect regulation (Physical Activity-related Health Competence Questionnaire) and depression (SCL-90-R) assessed at baseline (T1), post-treatment (T2) and one year after post-treatment (T3). Intention-to-treat analyses were conducted using linear mixed models and structural equations modeling. Results: From T1 to T3, the intervention group significantly improved on global symptom severity (d = -0.43, p = .031), depression among a depressed subsample (d = -0.62, p = .014), exercise (d = 0.45, p= .011) and exercise-specific affect regulation (d = 0.44, p = .028) relative to the control group. The intervention group was more likely to reveal clinically significant changes from T1 to T3 (p = .033). Increases in exercise-specific affect regulation mediated intervention effects on global symptom severity (ß = -0.28, p = .037) and clinically significant changes (ß = -0.24, p = .042). Conclusions: The exercise intervention showed long-term efficacy among a diagnostically heterogeneous outpatient sample and led to long-lasting exercise behaviour change. The long-term increases in exercise-specific affect regulation within exercise interventions seems to be essential for long-lasting symptom reduction beyond an intervention period. Code for: Zeibig, J. M., Seiffer, B., Frei, A. K., Takano, K., Sudeck, G., Rösel, I., Hautzinger, M., & Wolf, S. (2023). Long-term efficacy of exercise across diagnostically heterogenous mental disorders and the mediating role of affect regulation skills. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2022.102340 This work was supported by the Robert-Enke Foundation. It partially financed the compensation for participants and research assistants. The funding associations was not involved in the study design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report nor in the decision to submit the article for publication. unknown unknown