Advances in International Psychology

Objective in order to study running training can be used as an intervention to reduce college students depression, based on the existing research at home and abroad, explore the influence of running training in the field of depression, and by developing a series of interventions to further explore sports medicine and mental health fusion to the importance of future campus public health policy. Methods In this study, among the students of Nantong Institute of Technology (n=200), the randomized controlled trial was evenly divided into experimental group (n=100) and control group (n=100) according to age, gender, health status and other factors. The experimental group underwent 12 weeks of running training, three times weekly for 30 minutes, and the training intensity was individualized according to 40% to 70% of each participants heart rate reserve, while the control group did not do any exercise intervention. Participants were assessed for depression before and after the intervention using the Hamilton scale and Baker scale (PHQ-9 versus BDI-II), and data were collected and processed through the SPSS (25.0) software. Results The results showed that the mean score of PHQ-9 and BDI-II in the experimental group decreased significantly (P <0.01), and the improvement ratio of depressive mood reached more than 40%. Conclusion Through the in-depth analysis of the specific psychological effects of running training, it is found that the intensity, frequency and duration of exercise all have the effects on depression, and some individual differences are obvious. The study also identified the lack of sample size and control variables as limitations, and suggested that subsequent studies should strengthen these aspects to ensure the broad applicability and depth of the research results.

College students; Depressed mood; Running training; Mental health