Is There an Association Between Physical Activity and Psychological Distress and Well-Being?
Psychological distress is a risk factor for psychiatric disorders (86;87) and coronary heart disease (88), and it is negatively associated with quality of life. Conversely, a feeling of well-being can reduce psychiatric risk and is an important feature of high life quality and health (89). People frequently experience feelings of distress during the normal course of living and during challenging life events, including chronic medical conditions. Thus, it is important to understand the association between physical activity and feelings of distress or well-being because they bear not only on disease risk but also on overall mental health. Measures in this area are not uniform, but most studies have used a scale that assessed the presence of distress (e.g., combined symptoms of anxiety and depression or perceived stress) or the absence of distress (e.g., well-being or positive mental health). Findings of physical activity studies have not differed when measures of distress or well-being w
