Exercise + Self-Compassion Intervention for Depression

This is a 10-week randomized parallel study assessing the effectiveness of exercise in reducing depressive symptoms among students with mild-to-moderate depression. This study has three treatment arms: exercise; exercise + self-compassion; exercise + behavioral coaching. Each participant will be invited to attend 3 supervised group-based sessions each week either virtually through Zoom or in-person at the Exercise and Health Psychology Lab for 10 weeks. Senior undergraduate Kinesiology students will facilitate a personalized exercise program adapted to the participant's abilities, teach participants how to exercise, and gauge exercise intensity in a safe manner. The CANMAT guidelines will be implemented, with the program consisting of supervised moderate-intensity exercise sessions lasting 30-minutes (plus 10-minutes for warm-up and cool-down), 3 times weekly, for a period of 10-weeks. Participants will start exercising at a low intensity and progressively increase until they are consistently exercising at a moderate intensity. The exercise intervention will integrate moderate intensity aerobic and resistance training activities while accounting for the physical abilities and interests of the individual participant and theh group.The exercise + psychoeducation groups will receive equal contact supplemental individual manualized strategies each session (+15-20 minutes) centered either on behaviour change strategies (i.e., action planning, implementation intentions, relapse prevention, and goal setting) or self-compassion strategies (i.e., mindfulness, self-directed kindness meditations, and writing tasks). The manualized psychoeducation sessions will be group-based with the trainer that is supervising the exercise sessions. Participants will fill out surveys before, after and three months following the intervention period.