Research in Psychology- Psychological Studies
According to Today, a news article, regular exercise can be an effective treatment for individuals who suffer from anxiety and should be regularly prescribed for such patients (Pawlowski, 2022). Working out at least three times a week is said to improve anxiety symptoms among individuals compared to those who fail to work out at all. With the increment in anxiety disorders, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, exercise could be an effective alternative, particularly for individuals who do not want anti-anxiety drugs or therapy. Strength training and cardio between 45 and 60 minutes at least three times a week for a minimum of 3 months are said to offer maximum benefit in lessening anxiety symptoms.
The study was based on 223 adults who had anxiety symptoms, 70 percent of whom were women, and half had suffered from anxiety for over ten years. The participants are said to have been randomly placed into three groups: one with a low-intensity exercise program, the other with a high-intensity program, and the last was a control group with no exercise. The two groups involved in the workout reported mild anxiety symptoms, yet they had rated their symptoms between moderate and severe before the experiment. Those with higher workout intensity reported more improved symptoms (Pawlowski, 2022).
The reported article was based on research conducted by Henriksson et al. (2022) on the impact of exercise on anxiety symptoms among primary care patients. A 12-week exercise intervention that included varying intensities was performed and proved to lessen anxiety symptoms among patients suffering from anxiety disorders. The Beck Anxiety Inventory was used to assess anxiety symptoms among the 223 patients that had been recruited. The participants were equally assigned to groups with exercise programs and one that was non-exercise. The authors report a major improvement in anxiety as well as depressive symptoms among patients in the exercise group as compared to the control group, even though no major differences were found between the exercise groups. However, the authors acknowledge that a self-rating measure for reporting anxiety symptoms might bear the risk of symptom overestimation or underestimation (Henriksson et al., 2022).
Both articles are at par with the findings reported regarding exercise’s effect on anxiety symptoms. However, the original article by Henriksson et al. (2022) is more detailed as it fully explains the manner in which the research was conducted and provides the data analysis and results of the study. The original article is more scholarly in the presentation of findings. However, both articles serve the same purpose of encouraging individuals to consider engaging in physical exercise for different durations and intensities in order to improve anxiety symptoms. Both articles also recommend the need for expert advice before indulging in an exercise regime and stopping anti-anxiety drugs or therapy.
The news article accurately describes the research and has accurately and effectively detailed various aspects of the research, making it highly valid. Accordingly, as detailed in the research, the news article offers specific information, like how the brain’s plasticity alters when an individual engages in exercise, which greatly improves anxiety symptoms (Pawlowski, 2022; Henriksson et al., 2022). However, unlike the research article, the news articles seem to suggest that the higher the intensity and duration of the workout, the higher the improvement in anxiety symptoms, yet the research shows that no major differences were noted.
References
Henriksson, M., Wall, A., Nyberg, J., Adiels, M., Lundin, K., Bergh, Y.,& Åberg, M. (2022). Effects of exercise on symptoms of anxiety in primary care patients: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 297, 26-34.
Pawlowski, A. (2022). Exercise can ease anxiety symptoms, study finds. Today. Retrieved from https://www.today.com/health/mind-body/exercise-can-ease-anxiety-symptoms-study-finds-
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Question
STEP 1: Find a popular news article from within the past 10 years that reports on the results of a psychological study. This should not be a blog entry but a published article from a news source such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek, NPR, CNN, Fox News, etc. The APA’s Psychology news portal is a great place to look: http://www.apa.org/news/psycport/ (Links to an external site.). Read the article and ensure it is descriptive and sufficiently long enough to conclude the original research mentioned.
STEP 2: Go find the psychological study or studies that are mentioned in the news report. Sometimes, those are not freely available online, so you may have to track down the original study through your library’s website. You can find these articles in reputable journals, such as the American Journal of Psychology (Links to an external site.), Cognitive Psychology (Links to an external site.), Emotion (Links to an external site.), Journal of Abnormal Psychology (Links to an external site.), Journal of Applied Psychology (Links to an external site.), Journal of Counseling Psychology (Links to an external site.), Journal of Educational Psychology (Links to an external site.), Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Links to an external site.), and Memory (Links to an external site.). The study should have been performed within the past 10 years.