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The interrelationships of depression, age, height, weight, percent body fat, strength of grip, and physical working capacity were evaluated in 67 normal adult males. None of the correlations were statistically significant (P > .05). Also, the multiple correlation between depression and the physical variables was low (R = .28). In addition, 101 adult males participated in an exercise program which consisted of circult training (N = 18), jogging (N = 23), swimming (N = 27), treadmill running and bicycle ergometry (N = 17), and 16 subjects served as controls. It was found that six weeks of exercise did not produce a significant reduction in depression for any of the groups. However, a significant (P < .01) reduction in depression was observed in those subjects (N = 11) who were depressed initially. It was concluded that depression was not signifcantly correlated with variables such as age, height, weight, percent fat, strength of grip, and physical work capacity in normal adult males. Also, depressed adult males can experience a significant reduction in depression following six weeks of chronic exercise somatotherapy.
Morgan et al. (Thu,) studied this question.