Comparative Acute Effects Of Indoor And Outdoor Exercise On Mood States In Young Adults : 508
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INTRODUCTION: While the potential psychological benefits of outdoor exercise have been widely purported, the acute effects on mood states remain underexplored, with studies often lacking validated assessments.PURPOSE: This research addresses these gaps by focusing on acute mood changes following a single indoor or outdoor exercise session, employing validated psychological inventories to accurately capture and compare the immediate affective responses across environments.METHODS: Seventeen (15 females age 20.7 ± .94 years and 2 males age 20.5 ± .70 years) volunteers completed 6 circuit training exercise routines that were randomly assigned to 3 indoor and 3 outdoor venues. Prior to and immediately post-exercise, participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS21), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and Equanimity Scale 16 (ES16). Paired sample t-test was used compare mean values between pre- and post-inventories during the indoor and outdoor settings. Due to the multiple comparisons the alpha level was set to 0.008.RESULTS: DASS21 scores showed no significant differences between indoor (M = -1.7, t(16) = -0.5, p = 0.61) and outdoor (M = -2.0, t(16) = -0.9, p = 0.40) conditions. Similarly, ES16 scores indicated no significant changes, with indoor (M = -1.6, t(19) = -0.8, p = 0.41) and outdoor (M = -0.5, t(19) = -0.1, p = 0.92) settings. For PANAS scores, no statistical difference was observed between indoor (M = 1.5, t(19) = 0.5, p = 0.65) and outdoor (M = 7.5, t(17) = 2.5, p = 0.02) conditions.CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that there were no statistically significant differences in DASS21, ES16, or PANAS scores between indoor and outdoor conditions. This suggests that, under these conditions, the environment (indoor versus outdoor) does not appear to have a substantial impact on mood states.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: These results imply that both indoor and outdoor settings may provide similar psychological benefits regarding stress reduction and emotional stability, offering flexibility for individuals seeking to improve mental well-being. However, the observed trend toward higher positive affect in outdoor conditions, though not statistically significant, may encourage further research on outdoor settings’ potential role in enhancing mood states.
