Research Impact: Recent meta-analyses support the chronic anxiolytic effects of resistance exercise training (RET) among women with diagnosed Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD); however, the effects of RET among those with subclinical, or analogue, GAD (AGAD) is unknown (Gordon et al., 2017, Sports Medicine). The purpose of the pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) detailed in this protocol was to quantify the acute and chronic effects of ecologically-valid RET, designed according to World Health Organization and American College of Sports Medicine guidelines, on signs and symptoms of GAD among young adults with and without AGAD. Given that GAD most often emerges during young adulthood, and young adults who display elevated subclinical symptoms are more likely to develop clinically significant psychopathology, investigating the effects of RET among individuals with emerging signs and symptoms of an anxiety disorder is particularly important.
Gordon BR, McDowell CP, Lyons M, Herring, MP (2020). Acute and chronic effects of resistance exercise training among young adults with and without analogue generalized anxiety disorder: a protocol for pilot randomized controlled trials. Mental Health and Physical Activity. (IF: 1.798; Q3: Psychiatry-SCIE). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2020.100321
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