New research highlight
February 19, W Sussex
Exercise as a transdiagnostic intervention for improving mental health: an umbrella review
(Solmi et al., 2025)
Abstract
Exercise is beneficial for mental health in general, but no review has systematically assessed its potential transdiagnostic nature, i.e. whether it is beneficial across specific disorders.
We performed a systematic umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise in participants with mental disorders defined according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), assessing exercise’s transdiagnostic nature with TRANSD criteria, including eight meta-analyses (six included in the TRANSD meta-analysis), encompassing 99 RCTs (n=5656) across 11 disorders.
Moderate/vigorous aerobic exercise was an effective transdiagnostic intervention for disease-specific primary symptoms across 11 disorders:
- recurrent depressive disorder
- social phobia
- panic disorder
- generalized anxiety disorder
- post-traumatic stress disorder
- brief psychotic disorder
- schizophrenia
- schizoaffective disorder
- delusional disorder
- schizophreniform disorder
- attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
And four spectra with a medium effect size (SMD= -0.67, 95%CI= -0.84,-0.50):
- depressive disorders
- anxiety disorders
- schizophrenia-spectrum disorders
- neurodevelopmental disorders
Moderate/vigorous aerobic exercise also improved cognition across two disorders:
- schizophrenia
- attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
And two spectra with a large effect size (SMD= 0.92, 95%CI= 0.52,1.33):
- schizophrenia-spectrum disorders
- neurodevelopmental disorders
According to TRANSD criteria, moderate/vigorous aerobic exercise is a transdiagnostic intervention to improve disease-specific primary symptoms of 11 mental disorders, and cognition in two mental disorders.
Brief comment:
Exercise comes in many forms.
It is low cost and low risk.
There are many benefits beyond those described above, making exercise a fundamental way of building health and living well.
Many people struggle to start exercise and then to maintain it.
This is typically because they do not know how to form a new habit.
With this knowledge and know-how an exercise habit can be formed and the benefits be gained.
An exercise programme must be personalised and principle driven with the person feeling in control and knowing what they are doing.
Exercise is an essential part of the care for people suffering mental health conditions.
RS
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