Känslan av en promenad! : En fem veckors promenadintervention för att minska ångest hos gymnasieelever.

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the anxiolytic effect of a five-week, twice weekly, school-based walking intervention in urban green areas among Swedish high school students (aged 16 – 19 years) with and without elevated anxiety symptoms. The author hypothesizes: (1) The five-week, twice weekly, walking intervention will decrease anxiety symptoms among the participants. (2) The reduction of anxiety will be greater in the group with elevated anxiety symptoms, especially among those who also have low levels of physical activity. (3) Female students will show a greater anxiety reduction than male students regardless of baseline anxiety. Method: Seventy-eight high school students were cluster-randomized to either control (N = 38) or intervention group (N = 40). The intervention group walked twice a week for thirty minutes during the school day for a period of five weeks. The control group continued their school days as normal. The participants’ anxiety level was measured with a 7-item anxiety scale (GAD-7) for general anxiety and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) for worrying symptoms before and after the intervention. Those with GAD-7 score ≥ 10 and PSWQ score ≥ 45 were considered to have elevated anxiety. The results were analyzed with general linear models (GLM) including multiple confounding factors to evaluate the group differences. Results: The intervention group showed a statistically significantly greater reduction in GAD-7 score (Mean difference = 1.87, t(67) = -2.40, p = 0.019, β = 0.505) but not in PSWQ score compared to the control group. For subgroups statistically significant differences were found for change in GAD-7 between the intervention and the control group for those with elevated anxiety (Mean difference = 4.47, t(64) = -3.47, ptukey < 0.005) and for change in PSWQ between those with and without elevated anxiety in the intervention group (Mean difference = 9.25, t(64) = 2.87, ptukey = 0.028). A statistically significant difference in change of both GAD-7 and PSWQ scores was found for those with low levels of physical activity in the control group compared to the other physical activity subgroups. No statistically significant differences for change in GAD-7 score or PSWQ score between genders were found. Conclusion: A thirty-minute walk during the school day, twice a week, for five weeks reduces anxiety among high school students. The reduction appeared to be greater among those with elevated anxiety and/or low levels of physical activity. The effect was more prominent for general anxiety compared to worrying symptoms. No difference between genders was found.