When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints

When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints Publisher

Golshani S¹ ; Najafpour A² ; Hashemian SS³ ; Goudarzi N⁴ ; Shahmari F¹ ; Golshani S¹ ; Babaei M⁶ ; Firoozabadi K⁶ ; Dursteler KM^{7, 8} ; Bruhl AB⁹ ; Shakeri J¹ ; Brand S^{9, 10, 11, 12, 13} ; Sadeghibahmani D^{9, 10, 14}

Show Affiliations

1. Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6714869914, Iran
2. Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6714869914, Iran
3. Department of Psychology, Allameh Tabatabaâ€™i University, Tehran, 1489684511, Iran
4. Department of Psychiatry, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1411718541, Iran
5. Department of Cardiology, AJA General Hospital, Kermanshah, 6714869914, Iran
6. School of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, 5714783734, Iran
7. Psychiatric Clinics, Division of Substance Use Disorders, University of Basel, Basel, 4002, Switzerland
8. Center for Addictive Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8001, Switzerland
9. Center for Affective-, Stress-and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, 4002, Switzerland
10. Sleep Disorders Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6714869914, Iran
11. Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, 6714869914, Iran
12. Department of Sport, Exercise, and Health, Division of Sport Science and Psychosocial Health, University of Basel, Basel, 4052, Switzerland
13. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1417466191, Iran
14. Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, CA, United States

Source: Healthcare (Switzerland) Published:2021

Abstract

Background: Physical inactivity has become a global somatic and mental health issue. To counterbalance, promoting regular physical activity appears plausible, above all among adults, where physical inactivity is particularly high. However, some, but sparse, research also indicates that excessive exercising might be associated with unfavorable mental health dimensions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that excessive exercising was associated with more mental health issues. To this end, we assessed mental health issues, stress, mental toughness, and sleep disturbances among heavy and light adult exercisers. Methods: A total of 200 adults (mean age: 35 years; 62% females) took part in the study. Of those, 100 were heavy exercisers (18–22 h/week), and 100 were light exercisers (1–6 h/week). Participants completed questionnaires covering sociodemographic information, mental health issues, perceived stress, mental toughness, and sleep disturbances. Results: Compared with light exercisers, heavy exercisers reported higher mental health issues, more stress, but also higher mental toughness scores and less sleep disturbances. Higher age, lower mental toughness scores, heavy exerciser-status, and more sleep disturbances predicted higher mental health complaints. Conclusions: Compared with light exercising, heavy exercising might be associated with more mental health issues. As such, it appears that the association between exercise frequency, intensity, and duration and psychological well-being might be related to an optimum point, but not to a maximum point. In a similar vein, heavily exercising athletes, their coaches, parents, and representatives of sports associations should get sensitized to possible adverse psychological effects of excessive physical activity patterns. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Related Docs

View other Related Docs

1. Effects of Two Types of Exercise Training on Psychological Well-Being, Sleep and Physical Fitness in Patients With High-Grade Glioma (Who Iii and Iv), Journal of Psychiatric Research (2022)

2. Gender Differences and Relationship of 2D:4D-Ratio, Mental Toughness and Dark Triad Traits Among Active Young Adults, Biology (2022)

3. Among Persons With Multiple Sclerosis (Ms), Objective Sleep, Psychological Functioning, and Higher Physical Activity Scores Remained Stable Over 2 Years—Results From a Small Study Under Naturalistic Conditions, Frontiers in Psychiatry (2020)

4. Compared to Individuals With Mild to Moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea (Osa), Individuals With Severe Osa Had Higher Bmi and Respiratory-Disturbance Scores, Life (2021)

5. Better Objective Sleep Was Associated With Better Subjective Sleep and Physical Activity; Results From an Exploratory Study Under Naturalistic Conditions Among Persons With Multiple Sclerosis, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2020)

6. Examining the Effects of Mindfulness–Acceptance– Commitment Training on Self‐Compassion and Grit Among Elite Female Athletes, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2022)

7. Physical Activity Patterns, Circadian Rhythms, and Aggressive and Suicidal Behavior Among a Larger Sample of the General Population Aged 15 to 34 Years, Journal of Clinical Medicine (2023)

8. Aquatic Exercising May Improve Sexual Function in Females With Multiple Sclerosis – an Exploratory Study, Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders (2020)

Experts (# of related papers)

View all Related Experts

Khosro Sadeghniat (7)

Samaneh Akbarpour (4)

Style	Citing Format
MLA	Golshani S, et al.. "When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints." Healthcare (Switzerland), vol. 9, no. 10, 2021, pp. -.
APA	Golshani S, Najafpour A, Hashemian SS, Goudarzi N, Shahmari F, Golshani S, Babaei M, Firoozabadi K, Dursteler KM, Bruhl AB, Shakeri J, Brand S, Sadeghibahmani D (2021). When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints. Healthcare (Switzerland), 9(10), -.
Chicago	Golshani S, Najafpour A, Hashemian SS, Goudarzi N, Shahmari F, Golshani S, Babaei M, et al.. "When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints." Healthcare (Switzerland) 9, no. 10 (2021): -.
Harvard	Golshani S et al. (2021) 'When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints', Healthcare (Switzerland), 9(10), pp. -.
Vancouver	Golshani S, Najafpour A, Hashemian SS, Goudarzi N, Shahmari F, Golshani S, et al.. When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints. Healthcare (Switzerland). 2021;9(10):-.
BibTex	@article{ author = {Golshani S and Najafpour A and Hashemian SS and Goudarzi N and Shahmari F and Golshani S and Babaei M and Firoozabadi K and Dursteler KM and Bruhl AB and Shakeri J and Brand S and Sadeghibahmani D}, title = {When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints}, journal = {Healthcare (Switzerland)}, volume = {9}, number = {10}, pages = {-}, year = {2021} }
RIS	TY - JOUR AU - Golshani S AU - Najafpour A AU - Hashemian SS AU - Goudarzi N AU - Shahmari F AU - Golshani S AU - Babaei M AU - Firoozabadi K AU - Dursteler KM AU - Bruhl AB AU - Shakeri J AU - Brand S AU - Sadeghibahmani D TI - When Much Is Too Much—Compared to Light Exercisers, Heavy Exercisers Report More Mental Health Issues and Stress, But Less Sleep Complaints JO - Healthcare (Switzerland) VL - 9 IS - 10 SP - EP - PY - 2021 ER -

Science Communicator Platform

Authors

Authors Affiliations

Abstract