Table 1.

Summary of Studies of Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Black Adults.

Authors	n	Subject Selection	Gender	Age	Design	Physical Activity Measurement	Psychological Instrument	Key Findings on PA & depressive symptoms variables
Artinian et al. (2006)	245	Convenience	female	61 years (SD, 12.7 years)	Cross- sectional	Assessment of PA was determined by two one-item measures	20 item CESD, scored differently than original	Non-significant relationship between depressive symptoms and # of days within last 30 of moderate- intensity activity: F1,241=3.13 (p>.05)
Bopp et al. (2004)	42	Convenience	female	70.59 ±9.21 years	Cross- sectional	PA Scale for the Elderly, only asked about strength training participation (yes/no and hours/week)	5 item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale, with one of the items removed to improve internal consistency	Non-significant correlation between strength training participation and depression
Farmer et al. (1988)	155	Stratified random sampling	57% female	25–77	Cross- sectional	Current recreational & nonrecreational PA	20 item CESD	Adjusted odds ratio for depressive symptoms was 16.5 in men with little or no PA in recreation, and 19.2 in women with little or no activity apart from recreation
Izquierdo-Porrera et al. (2002)	46 out of 48 (96%)	Convenience	83% female	29–83	Experimental	Attendance in PA church program	20 item CESD	Attendance in PA intervention was not correlated with depressive symptoms (r=.16, p>.05)
Knox et al. (2006)	2,637	Random & convenience	56% female	33–45	Prospective observational	METS from strenuous PA to daily activities such as cleaning & gardening over previous year	20 item CESD	The adjusted predictor of # of depressive episodes was B=− 28.40, SE=7.61, p=.0002 for PA.
Malebo, et al. (2007)	293	Convenience	52% male	20–35	Cross- sectional	PA Index measured 5 categories of activity: intensity, duration, frequency, summer participation, and winter participation	General Health Questionnaire depression subscale	Fewer depressive symptoms in sports participants compared to non- sport participants (t=−1.84, p=.07, small effect size)
Nelson et al. (2008)	186	Random	female	35–47 at baseline, followed for 8 years	Prospective observational	Kilocalories of leisure-time PA per week were calculated from the Paffenbarger PA Questionnaire and categorized into the top third (≥ 1450 kcal/wk), middle third (< 1450 to 644 kcal/wk), and bottom third (< 644 kcal/wk) of reported current activity	20 item CESD	PA at any level was not related to depressive symptoms among African American women (top third OR = 0.04, CI = − 1.87, 1.94; middle- third OR = 0.05, CI = −1.53, 1.63. The lowest PA tertile was used as the reference group.)
Orr et al. (2006)	922	Convenience	pregnant women	18–20+	Cross- sectional	PA for fun & fitness before and during pregnancy	20 item CESD	Proportionately more women with lower levels of depressive symptoms engaged in PA during pregnancy (65.9%) than those with higher levels of depressive symptoms (51.8%)
Patil et al. (2008)	74	Convenience	81.1% female	60–95	Cross- sectional	Estimated number of times weekly of PA (intentional cardiovascular workout) for at least 20 consecutive minutes	15 item Geriatric Depression Scale	Correlation between PA and depressive symptoms was −.29, p<01 (two-tailed)
Siegel et al. (2000)	378	Convenience	female	adults	Cross- sectional	Leisure-time PA operationalized as “no PA”, “only light PA/weekly,” “vigorous PA at least 20 min once or twice weekly,” and “vigorous PA at least 20 min three or more times weekly”	20 item CESD	PA predicted depressive symptoms (B = − 0.15, p<.01), holding education, income, marital status, and pounds overweight constant
Walker et al. (2004)	100	Convenience	post- partum	22.40 ±3.75	Prospective observational	7-day PA recall, kcal/kg/d	20 item CESD	Non-significant correlation between depressive symptoms and PA (r = −.078)
Wilbur et al. (2009)	278	Convenience	female	48.5 (SD 6.0)	Quasi- experimental	Adherence to walking frequency calculated as the percentage of the prescribed minimum of 68 walks completed during the adoption phase of the intervention	20 item CESD	Higher walking adherence was predictive of lower depressive symptoms at 24 weeks (B = −.023, p = .036)
Wise et al. (2006)	35,224	Convenience	female	21–69	Cross- sectional and prospective observational	Vigorous PA during high school; average # of hours spent each week during the past year in walking for PA & vigorous PA	20 item CESD	Compared with women who were never active, the adjusted OR of depressive symptoms for women who were active in high school but inactive in adulthood, inactive in high school but active and adulthood, and always active was 0.90, 0.83, and 0.76 respectively. Compared with women who reported no vigorous PA, the adjusted OR of depressive symptoms for women reporting <1, 1, 2, 3–4, and 7 hr or more/week was .89, .85, .74, .72, and .75 respectively (p<.001).

PA=physical activity