Effects of aerobic exercise on adolescents with subthreshold mood symptoms: a randomized psycho-education controlled trial

Background and objective: Adolescents often suffer from mood disorders and behavioral problems. Studies have shown that aerobic exercise can improve cognitive function, relieve depression, alleviate anxiety, and improve sleep. However, there have been few randomized controlled trials (RCT) evaluating the effects of aerobic exercise on cognition and mood symptoms in adolescents with subthreshold mood symptoms. Participants and methods: This RCT will include 224 adolescents with subthreshold mood symptoms from a middle school in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Participants will be randomly allocated to exercise intervention or psycho-education controlled group (n = 112/group). Participants in the exercise intervention group will undergo aerobic exercise at an intensity of 50–70% of the maximum heart rate for 30 minutes per day, 4 days per week for 3 successive months. Participants in the psycho-education controlled group will perform activities including three sections of general psychological education (one section of group game, one section of poetry reading, and one section of singing entertainment). Protocol version: 1.0. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Guizhou Brain Hospital (Guangzhou Huiai Hospital) on October 26, 2016 (approval No. 2016-048). Outcome measures: The primary outcome measure of this study is changes in depressive symptoms and neurocognitive function relative to baseline at the end of 12 weeks of intervention. Secondary outcome measures are anxiety symptoms, hypomanic symptoms, and change in brain connectivity relative to baseline at the end of 12 weeks of intervention. Discussion: The effects of aerobic exercise in adolescents with subthreshold mood symptoms will be evaluated. Registeration: This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT03300778) on October 3, 2017.