Effects of a walking program on attributional style, depression, and self-esteem in women.

Few controlled studies describe the psychological effects of a walking program on nonclinical, premenopausal women. This experiment measured the effects of an 8-wk. walking program on female volunteers (N = 27) age 29 to 50 years (M = 37.4) randomly assigned to a supervised walking group vs a nonwalking group. A repeated-measures, multivariate design was used to analyze blood pressure, resting heart rate, timed mile walk, and scores on self-esteem, depression, and attributional style. The walking group showed significant improvement in the timed mile walk, diastolic blood pressure, and rated self-esteem.