Research report Physical activity, exercise coping, and depression in a 10-year cohort study of depressed patients Alex H.S. Harris ⁎ , Ruth Cronkite, Rudolf Moos Center for Health Care Evaluation, Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System and Stanford University, Menlo Park, California, USA Received 26 October 2005; received in revised form 24 January 2006; accepted 8 February 2006 Available online 20 March 2006 Abstract Background: Epidemiological research examining the relationship between physical activity and depression has been conducted almost exclusively with community samples. We examined associations between physical activity, exercise coping, and depression in a sample of initially depressed patients, using four waves of data spanning 10 years. Methods: A cohort (n =424) of depressed adults completed measures of physical activity, exercise coping, depression, and other demographic and psychosocial constructs at baseline, 1-year, 4-years, and 10-years, with a 90% wave-to-wave retention rate. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze individual depression trajectories. Results: More physical activity was associated with less concurrent depression, even after controlling for gender, age, medical problems, and negative life events. Physical activity counteracted the effects of medical conditions and negative life events on depression. However, physical activity was not associated with subsequent depression. The findings for exercise coping were comparable. Limitations: Measures of physical activity and exercise coping encompassed a limited set of activities and did not include information about duration or intensity. Conclusion: Our results suggest that more physical activity is associated with reduced concurrent depression. In addition, it appears that physical activity may be especially helpful in the context of medical problems and major life stressors. Clinically, encouraging depressed patients to engage in physical activity is likely to have potential benefits with few obvious risks. Published by Elsevier B.V. Keywords: Physical activity; Exercise; Coping; Depression; Longitudinal research 1. Introduction Epidemiological studies of community samples have shown that individuals who engage in more physical activity are less likely to be concurrently depressed (Farmer et al., 1988; Kritz-Silverstein et al., 2001; Strawbridge et al., 2002). For example, Camacho, Roberts, Lazarus, Kaplan, and Cohen (1991) found that, after adjusting for age, gender, and physical disability, individuals with low activity levels were at much greater risk for depression compared to a high- activity reference group (adjusted OR = 4.22, 95% CI: 3.17,5.62). Similarly, Kritz-Silverstein, Barrett-Connor, and Corbeau (2001) found that more intensive and frequent activity was associated with lower scores on the Journal of Affective Disorders 93 (2006) 79 – 85 www.elsevier.com/locate/jad ⁎ Corresponding author. Center for Health Care Evaluation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, 795 Willow Road (MC:152), Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. Tel.: +1 650 493 5000x23423; fax: +1 650 617 2736. E-mail address: Alexander.Harris2@va.gov (A.H.S. Harris). 0165-0327/$ - see front matter. Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2006.02.013