'Join the walk?': Short- and long-term effects of a walking program for mentally disordered

Background & objectives: Physical activity (PA) has potentially beneficial effects on several domains of mental health. Furthermore, walking has been proposed as a promising strategy for improving the level of PA and mental health. A previous study by Pelssers and colleagues (2013) provided evidence for the short-term effectiveness of a structured walking program (‘Every Step Counts’) in a population of healthy elderly. This walking intervention program was embedded within a socio-cultural organization for elderly and was guided by the principles of Self-Determination Theory (SDT). In the present study the following two hypotheses were investigated: (1) the walking intervention would lead to positive short- and long-term effects on PA-levels and mental health (depression and trait anxiety) in a population of adults with mental health disorders; (2) the quality of motivation would mediate these effects, especially in the long term. Methods: The walking intervention, which was now called ‘Join the walk?’, was embedded within sport clubs of the Flemish Federation for Sport and Recreation in Mental Health Care (Psylos). Members of these sport clubs are adults with mental health problems such as depression or anxiety disorder. Eleven clubs were included in the intervention condition and eight in the control condition. At baseline, the number of participants per club varied from four to sixteen, with 91 participants in the intervention condition and 49 in the control condition. The intervention consisted of four key components: (1) an individualized, pedometer-based 10-week walking program, (2) a weekly group walk, (3) support by a walking coach and (4) health-related workshops. These components were aimed to satisfy the basic needs proposed by SDT (autonomy, competence and relatedness). Participants in both conditions were measured at baseline (pre-test), after ten weeks (post-test) and after six months (follow-up). The PA-level, mental health (depression and trait anxiety) and quality of motivation were measured with a questionnaire. Results & discussion: The results are expected by April 2015.status: publishe