The Resistance Exercise Training for Worry Trial
Condition: Analogue Generalized Anxiety Disorder
MeSH terms: Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This protocol details the full methods of two parallel, randomized controlled trials of an
      eight-week resistance exercise training intervention compared to a wait-list control
      condition among young adults with and without analogue-Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
    

Detailed description: 
      Recent meta-analyses support the chronic anxiolytic effects of resistance exercise training
      among women with diagnosed Generalized Anxiety Disorder. However, the effects of resistance
      exercise training among those with subclinical, or analogue-Generalized Anxiety Disorder is
      unknown. This protocol details the full methods of two parallel, randomized controlled trials
      of an eight-week resistance exercise training intervention compared to a wait-list control
      condition among young adults with and without analogue-Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
      Analogue-Generalized Anxiety Disorder status was determined using validated cut-scores for
      both the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire Generalized Anxiety Disorder
      sub-scale score of 6 or greater, and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire score of 45 or
      greater. The ecologically-valid resistance exercise training was designed according to World
      Health Organization and American College of Sports Medicine guidelines.
    

Intervention name(s): Resistance exercise training; Wait-list
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Other
Intervention description(s): The ecologically-valid resistance exercise training was designed according to World Health Organization and American College of Sports Medicine guidelines. The eight-week, twice-weekly intervention was designed to be performed at a moderate intensity. The resistance of each exercise was such that when participants could successfully complete 2 sets of 12 repetitions at a certain load, the resistance was increased incrementally up to 5% for the following session. Exercise sessions were scheduled with at least one day of rest between sessions. The eight exercises included the barbell squat, barbell bench press, hexagon bar deadlift, dumbbell shoulder lateral raise, barbell bent over rows, dumbbell lunges, dumbbell curls, and abdominal crunches.; Participants randomized to the delayed-start wait-list condition completed questionnaires once-weekly. The investigator sent a weekly email to the participant providing links to the questionnaires. Participants that completed the eight-week wait-list condition were offered the eight weeks of RET either immediately upon completion, or later at a time of their convenience while the trial was ongoing. Each participant randomized to the eight-week wait-list also completed two 30-minute bouts of seated quiet rest in an empty room at weeks one and eight.
Other intervention name(s): weight-lifting; strength training
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Two parallel, randomized controlled trials of an eight-week resistance exercise training intervention compared to a wait-list control condition among young adults with and without analogue-Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Masking: Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: anxiety