Relationships Between Anhedonia-Related Symptom Severity, PTSD Symptom Severity, And Physical Activity Levels In Trauma-Exposed Adults

Prior research has examined independent associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depressive symptoms with physical activity (PA) levels. However, specific depression and anxiety symptom dimensions (e.g., anhedonia, worry) and interactions among these psychiatric variables with PA are lacking. PURPOSE: To examine relationships between anhedonia-related depressive, worry and PTSD symptom severity with PA. METHODS: Secondary data-analyses were conducted among 107 trauma-exposed adults (61% women; 54% white; M ± SD age = 28 ± 9 y) who completed the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire - Anhedonic Depression scale, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form. Interactions between anhedonia-related depressive and PTSD symptom severity (model 1) and worry and PTSD symptom severity (model 2) on PA were examined with separate linear mixed effects models that controlled for covariates that independently influence PA (i.e., age, sex, body mass index, education, race, sleep quality), with random effects by subject. RESULTS: Participants reported an average of 2583.5 ± 1947.5 total MET-min/wk, and 70% of the sample reported meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. For model 1, there was a significant anhedonia-related depressive symptom severity × PTSD symptom severity interaction (t(97) = 2.30, p = 0.02; marginal R2 = 0.48, conditional R2 = 0.74). Analysis of simple effects indicated that greater anhedonia-related depressive symptom severity was associated with lower PA among those with moderate to low PTSD symptom severity (i.e., scores ≤ sample mean of 14.47 ± 14.02), whereas greater anhedonia-related depressive symptom severity was associated with higher PA among those with high PTSD symptom severity (i.e., scores > sample mean). For model 2, the worry (t(97) = -0.57, p = 0.57) and the worry × PTSD symptom severity interaction (t(97) = 0.95, p = 0.35) were non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that PA among trauma-exposed adults may vary as a function of anhedonia-related depressive symptom severity and PTSD symptom severity profiles (i.e., combinations of symptoms may differentially influence PA or vice versa). Supported by: K01MH132545