ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1445144
This article is part of the Research TopicPhysical Activity: a Promising Modifiable Behavior to Protect Brain, Cognition, and Mental Health Across the LifespanView all 11 articles
Exercise, PTSD and Comorbid Conditions 1 Cross-sectional exercise-related differences in PTSD symptoms, psychological distress, physical pain, and sleep quality in trauma-exposed adults
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Merrimack College, Andover, Massachusetts, United States
- 2Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States
- 3Division of Behavioral Science, National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston, United States
- 4Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- 5Translational Research Center for TBI and Stress Disorders, VA Boston Healthcare System, Veterans Health Administration, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston, United States
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Purpose: Psychological trauma can lead to PTSD which is associated with numerous negative health outcomes. Exercise has beneficial effects on PTSD; however, the amount of exercise associated with these benefits remains unknown. Purpose: To examine self-reported exerciserelated differences in PTSD symptom severity, psychological distress, pain, and sleep quality in a national sample of trauma-exposed adults. Methods: Participants completed online assessments of exercise participation, PTSD symptom severity, psychological distress, pain, and sleep quality. Exercise level was defined as Active (>24 on the Godin-Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire [GLTEQ]), Insufficiently Active (1-23 on the GLTEQ), or Inactive (no reported exercise). MANCOVA was used to determine the relationship between exercise level (i.e., independent variable) and all outcomes (PTSD, distress, pain, sleep) with post hoc means comparison adjusted for age. Results: Participants' (n=500) mean age was 34.9±13.0, and 68% were female. The overall model for exercise was significant, such that Active participants reported less PTSD symptom severity, psychological distress, and pain, and better sleep quality than Inactive participants. Conclusions: Meeting the recommended amount of weekly physical activity with moderate-to-vigorous exercise is associated with better physical and mental health among trauma survivors. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm these crosssectional findings.
Keywords: posttraumatic stress disorder, physical activity, Exercise, Mental Health, Sleep, Pain
Received: 06 Jun 2024; Accepted: 23 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 SantaBarbara, PhD, Checko, Pebole and Whitworth. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: James W Whitworth, Division of Behavioral Science, National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Boston, United States
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