Physical Exercise and Depressive Symptoms in Moderately or Severely Depressed Adults

Sixty depressed French adults (34 with symptoms of moderate intensity and 26 with symptoms of severe intensity as defined by the PHQ-9 cutting scores) voluntarily participated in our comparative trial. A control group (waiting list) of n = 16 including 8 severely depressed and 8 moderately depressed participants received no physical exercise. For the remaining 44 participants (26 with moderate-intensity depressive symptoms and 18 with high-intensity depressive symptoms), two weekly Nordic Walking sessions of 1h were performed for 10 consecutive weeks. Depressive symptoms were assessed using standard self-report questionnaires at various time points: 1/ enrollment (using the PHQ-9), and then (2) just before the beginning of the exercise intervention (pre-intervention; using the BDI-II), 2/ at the end of Week 5 (mid-intervention; using the BDI-II), and 3/ the day following the end of the exercise program (post-intervention)