Category: Transdiagnostic
Kristin Szuhany, Ph.D.
NYU School of Medicine
New York, New York
Jasper Smits, Ph.D.
Professor
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
Kristin Szuhany, Ph.D.
NYU School of Medicine
New York, New York
Erica Scioli, Ph.D.
VA Boston Healthcare System
Boston, Massachusetts
Louisa Sylvia, Ph.D.
Psychologist
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
Emily Bernstein, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Somerville, Massachusetts
Exercise is associated with a broad array of physical and mental health benefits. Despite wide-ranging benefits, adherence to exercise recommendations is low, and even worse for those with psychiatric conditions. Therefore, it is important to identify both mechanistic factors associated with exercise engagement and psychiatric outcome and novel intervention strategies to target these mechanistic factors. Exercise may be a particularly potent intervention to optimize given its transdiagnostic effects for multiple psychiatric conditions, psychological and neurobiological effects on mood and health markers, and its accessibility, including its ability to be administered via mobile applications.
Exercise engagement and psychiatric outcome may be impacted by psychological factors (e.g., number of psychiatric comorbidities, affect, catastrophizing beliefs, and attitudes towards exercise), biological factors (e.g., body mass index, neurobiological stress markers, chronic pain), and demographic factors (e.g., employment status, gender, age). Aligned with the NIH Science of Behavior Change framework, better understanding of these potential mechanistic factors and strategies to target them will inform guidelines for tailored exercise prescriptions, aligned with personalized medicine. Further, investigating novel applications using technology (e.g., mobile applications) can increase accessibility in general and during times of emergency.
The current symposium aims to discuss potential psychological, biological, and demographic mechanisms as well as accessible strategies to target them to optimize engagement, retention, and outcome in exercise interventions across a variety of psychiatric diagnoses. The first presentation will examine psychological and exercise-related predictors of long-term exercise engagement for adults with obsessive compulsive disorder. The second will present results from a progressive exercise training program to enhance engagement and outcomes for individuals with chronic pain and PTSD. Changes in pain-related interference, pain catastrophizing, and neurobiological factors will be discussed. The third presentation will discuss demographic, psychiatric, and exercise-related moderators impacting outcome in a randomized study comparing internet-based, self-guided CBT plus an activity tracker (Fitbit), self-guided mindfulness-based cognitive therapy plus Fitbit, and Fitbit alone to increase exercise in individuals with a history depression at risk for cardiovascular disease (N=340). The final presentation will discuss how mobile interventions may target these mechanisms by providing real-time notifications and tools to reduce problematic habits and focus attention to benefits to mental health, which can be delivered in a flexible and accessible manner, allowing for implementation during emergencies.
Results will be discussed in the context of implications for personalized exercise for mental health prescriptions, other mechanistic targets for future research, and implementation of novel interventions, especially during times of emergency.
Presenter: Kristin L. Szuhany, Ph.D. – NYU School of Medicine
Co-author: Margot H. Steinberg, PhD – NYU Langone Medical Center
Co-author: Nicole McLaughlin, PhD – Alpert Warren Medical School of Brown University, Butler Hospital
Co-author: Maria Mancebo, PhD – Alpert Medical School – Brown University
Co-author: Richard Brown, PhD – The University of Texas at Austin
Co-author: Benjamin Greenberg, MD, PhD – Alpert Medical School – Brown University
Co-author: Naomi Simon, MD – NYU Langone Health, New York University School of Medicine
Co-author: Ana Abrantes, Ph.D. – Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Presenter: Erica R. Scioli, Ph.D. – VA Boston Healthcare System
Co-author: James Whitworth, PhD – VA Boston Healthcare System
Co-author: Sanjay Advani, M.A. – VA Boston Healthcare System
Co-author: Matthew Blair, MD – Indiana University School of Medicine
Co-author: Grazianno Pinna, MD – University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago
Co-author: Ann Rasmusson, MD – VA Boston Healthcare System
Presenter: Louisa G. Sylvia, Ph.D. – Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Evan A. Albury, B.S. – Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation, Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Dustin J. Rabideau, Ph.D. – Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Nicole J. Stephan, B.S. – Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation, Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Heidi Dohse, BA – Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Andrew Nierenberg, M.D. – Massachusetts General Hospital
Presenter: Emily E. Bernstein, Ph.D. – Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Emma C. Wolfe, PhD – Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Brynn Huguenel, Ph.D. – Massachusetts General Hospital
Co-author: Sabine Wilhelm, Ph.D. – Harvard Medical School