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EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF MOVEMENT ON MOOD

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Practitioners need sustainable unmedicated methods to assist with the improvement of mood and mental health. Mental health is associated with mood and emotions. Mood is the accumulation of dynamic emotions at a given time. Movement may be a tool for people to be able to control emotions that lead to a negative mood state. Emotions like fear, anger, happiness, and sadness are affected by the different motor behaviors and elements. Happier movements are correlated with rising, jumping, and rhythm movements. Sad movements are correlated with slumped, head down, and closed posture movements (Shafir et al., 2016). Movements done daily are voluntary and are used as a coping strategy to tend to our needs, creating emotional resiliency (Tsachor & Shafir, 2017). Adolescents feel better and more energized after incidental activity such as climbing stairs (Koch et al., 2020). Adults who participate in physical activity are in a better mood daily than those who do not (Tsuji et al., 2020). We believe performing specific movement patterns will have a positive impact on the participants mood states. METHODS: Twenty-three participants were recruited through email and social media and completed a Qualtrics survey. An incentive of a drawing of a $25 gift card was done. Participants completed a pre- and post- survey consisting of screening, demographics, current physical activity level, emoji scales, and a movement sequence. The survey was set so that it would not advance to the post- movement questions until the 10-minute video was completed. Timing for amount of seconds spent in the survey was recorded to ensure response validity. RESULTS: A dependent-samples t-test was performed on the pre- and post- scores. The difference was not significant, t (22) = 1.43, p = .08. A χ2 Goodness of fit revealed significant differences in participants' ratings of the impact of the video. χ2 (2, N = 23) = 15.22, p < .001. This was a large effect, Cramer's V =.57. CONCLUSIONS: Adding a few specific movement patterns could positively impact mood states. Certain movements and postures can create positive feelings and experiences that can help mood. People can set aside a few minutes to positively impact their mood states. Movement patterns are not intense and do not require a warmup because of the low impact. Future research should incorporate more subjects, diverse populations, and a more reliable and accessible platform.

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