The dynamical association between physical activity and affect in the daily life of individuals with ADHD

Other authors

Institut Català de la Salut

[Koch ED] Mental mHealth Lab, Institute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany. B Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. [Freitag CM, Mayer JS, Medda J] Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. [Reif A, Grimm O] Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. [Ramos-Quiroga JA, Palacions Sanchez J] Servei de Psiquiatria, Vall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari, Barcelona, Spain

Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus

Publication date

2023-01-25T07:42:16Z

2023-01-25T07:42:16Z

2022-04



Abstract

ADHD, Mood; Physical activity


TDAH; Estado anímico; Actividad física


TDAH; Estat anímic; Activitat física


Exercise interventions in mental disorders have evidenced a mood-enhancing effect. However, the association between physical activity and affect in everyday life has not been investigated in adult individuals with ADHD, despite being important features of this disorder. As physical activity and affect are dynamic processes in nature, assessing those in everyday life with e-diaries and wearables, has become the gold standard. Thus, we used an mHealth approach to prospectively assess physical activity and affect processes in individuals with ADHD and controls aged 14–45 years. Participants wore accelerometers across a four-day period and reported their affect via e-diaries twelve times daily. We used multilevel models to identify the within-subject effects of physical activity on positive and negative affect. We split our sample into three groups: 1. individuals with ADHD who were predominantly inattentive (n = 48), 2. individuals with ADHD having a combined presentation (i.e., being inattentive and hyperactive; n = 95), and 3. controls (n = 42). Our analyses revealed a significant cross-level interaction (F(2, 135.072)=5.733, p = 0.004) of physical activity and group on positive affect. In details, all groups showed a positive association between physical activity and positive affect. Individuals with a combined presentation significantly showed the steepest slope of physical activity on positive affect (slope_inattentive=0.005, p<0.001; slope_combined=0.009, p<0.001; slope_controls=0.004, p = 0.008). Our analyses on negative affect revealed a negative association only in the individuals with a combined presentation (slope=-0.003; p = 0.001). Whether this specifically pronounced association in individuals being more hyperactive might be a mechanism reinforcing hyperactivity needs to be empirically clarified in future studies.

Document Type

Article


Published version

Language

English

Publisher

Elsevier

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Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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