Physical Exercise and Mental Health: The Routes of a Reciprocal Relation

Chiara Fossati, Guglielmo Torre, Sebastiano Vasta, Arrigo Giombini, Federico Quaranta, Rocco Papalia and Fabio Pigozzi
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Chiara Fossati: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
Guglielmo Torre: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, 00128 Rome, Italy
Sebastiano Vasta: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, 00128 Rome, Italy
Arrigo Giombini: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
Federico Quaranta: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy
Rocco Papalia: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, 00128 Rome, Italy
Fabio Pigozzi: Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”, 00135 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-10

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: mental health; sports participation; injury; depression; anxiety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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