OBJECTIVES: The anxiety and depression symptoms in young people are worth paying attention to, in China and worldwide. Meanwhile, cognitive function is very important for young people's learning and work. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the moderate aerobic exercise to alleviate anxiety and depression in young people.~DESIGN & METHODS: Undergraduate and graduate students aged 18-35 years will be randomly and evenly assigned to exercise and control groups. Subjects assigned to exercise group will receive an running exercise intervention more than 30 minutes and 3 times per week for 8 weeks. The control group will be advised not to engage in physical activities. Outcome measures include the score of the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), the response time of Schulte Grid test, and the response time of Stroop Colour-Word Test at baseline and post-intervention in two groups. In addition, these assessments will be followed up at week 20 (3 months after the end of intervention).
RATIONALE: Exercise may improve the mood and cognition in young people.~PURPOSE: It has been well-known that physical exercise can generally benefit the mental health. However, most evidences that physical exercise improves psychiatric symptoms come from retrospective or cross-sectional studies. Moreover, the studies on the effect of physical exercise in the young adults' mental health were limited. This randomized-controlled trial aims to determinate the effects of a chronic and aerobic exercise on the mood and cognition of young people.