A Critique on Exercise as a way to Reduce Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Disorders 1
A Critique on Exercise as a way to Reduce Anxiety, Depression, and Sleep Disorders
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A Critique on Exercise as a way to Reduce Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Disorders 2
There has been a rise in psychological illnesses among college students, and a significant
rise in cases of anxiety, depression, and sleep deprivation has been recorded among most college
students (5). In the article "Physical Exercise Ameliorates Anxiety, Depression and Sleep
Quality in College Students: Experimental Evidence from Exercise Intensity and Frequency,"
Chaoxin Ji, Jun Yang, Lin Lin, and Song Chen (3), these researchers have investigated the
effects of exercise on tackling this emerging issues. Although the researchers have come up with
conclusive evidence to prove the benefits of exercise in reducing stress, anxiety, and lack of
sleep, the article still presents a few shortcomings, such as deviation of the results due to the
different forms of exercise used, and the sample subjects were only limited to certain college
students.
The researchers used a sample size of 109 subjects aged between 19-29 years, after which
25 were excluded due to not following the criteria and rules set. The participants included both
male and female undergraduate and master's students. The study excluded students who had a
history of anxiety or were on anxiety medication, ill, physically injured in the past year, or those
who had mental issues. The study lasted six weeks, with the participants exposed to 60 minutes
of exercise each.
The article highlights exactly how exercise proves to be an added advantage to the
participants in stress reduction; however, the validity of the results is still to be challenged due to
the study's limitations. The results produced vary among participants since each was exposed to a
different form of exercise; hence the results are inconclusive (4). The study subjects were not as
diverse as is supposed to be for a conclusive result to be determined (1). The study also had an
inconsistent data collection method, and each individual used a different type of exercise; hence
A Critique on Exercise as a way to Reduce Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Disorders 3
it is almost impossible to know which type of exercise offers a solution to the problem of
anxiety, depression, and sleep deprivation (2).
The study posed many challenges, but the researchers were relentless in producing the
best result; however, a consistent data collection form (exercise) should be utilized for consistent
results.
A Critique on Exercise as a way to Reduce Anxiety, Depression and Sleep Disorders 4
References
1. Byrd DR, McKinney KJ. Individual, interpersonal, and institutional factors affect college
students' mental health. Journal of American College Health. 2012 Apr 1;60(3):185-93.
2. Houston AI, McNamara JM. John Maynard Smith and the importance of consistency in
evolutionary game theory. Biology and Philosophy. 2005 Nov;20(5):933-50.
3. Ji C, Yang J, Lin L, Chen S. Physical exercise lessens anxiety, depression and sleep
quality in college students: Experimental evidence from exercise intensity and frequency.
Behavioral Sciences. 2022 Feb 25;12(3):61.
4. Newman I, Covrig DM. Building consistency between the title, problem statement,
purpose, & research questions to improve the quality of research plans and reports. New
Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. 2013 Dec;25(1):70-9.
5. Yorgason JB, Linville D, Zitzman B. Mental health among college students: do those
who need services know about and use them? Journal of American College Health. 2008
Sep 1;57(2):173-82.
