Physical exercise and sport participation improve mental health outcomes, while depressive and anxiety symptoms consistently influence the risk of sport injury in recreational and elite athletes.
Does sport participation and exercise practice improve mental health outcomes and physical performance?
Exercise and sport participation generally improve mental health outcomes, while poor mental health (depression/anxiety) increases the risk of sport injury, though current evidence is limited by study design biases.
Sport participation and exercise practice are considered to be beneficial for mental status, yielding an improved mood and better quality of life. On the other hand, good mental fitness is thought to lead to better physical status and sport performance. The key aim of this narrative review is to provide an unstructured overview on the topic with special considerations on the role of mental and physical health to summarize the evidence on their reciprocal influence. While very few papers describe the role of mental health measures in affecting physical performance, more evidence is available concerning the effect of exercise and sport in improving mental health outcomes. Furthermore, there is a consistent role of depressive and anxiety symptoms in influencing the risk of sport injury in either recreational or elite athletes. Moreover, the importance of investigating mental health issues in elite and retired athletes is highlighted. On the basis of the available literature, several biases were found to affect the provided evidence mainly because of the complexity of a proper study design in this field.
Fossati et al. (Wed,) conducted a review in Mental health and physical exercise. Physical exercise and sport participation was evaluated. Physical exercise and sport participation improve mental health outcomes, while depressive and anxiety symptoms consistently influence the risk of sport injury in recreational and elite athletes.