Exercise expectations were not clearly linked to anxiety or mood responses
A small resistance-training study examined whether starting expectations tracked psychological changes, but its null associations do not rule out placebo effects.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Within the resistance-training group, expectations measured before the program were not significantly associated with later anxiety or mood responses. This addresses whether reported expectations tracked psychological changes; it does not establish that expectations had no influence. The abstract's suggestion that benefits were independent of placebo effects goes beyond what these null correlations alone can demonstrate.
The sample was small, and the expectation questionnaire was not specific to resistance training. The abstract also provides no direct training-versus-waitlist estimate for anxiety or mood outcomes.
What researchers found
Expectations and anxiety or mood responses
Baseline expectations versus anxiety and mood changes after eight weeks, assessed with Spearman's rho within the training group.
What the study asked
Participants completed anxiety and mood measures before and after the training period, while expectations were recorded at the start. The analysis asked whether those initial expectations were associated with the psychological changes participants experienced.
What remains unresolved
A correlation analysis cannot separate every source of psychological change. The authors themselves highlight limited sample size and the broad expectation measure, leaving room for a more targeted examination of expectations in future research.
The original publication
Associations between expectations and responses to chronic resistance exercise in young adults with and without analogue generalized anxiety disorder.
Rice JM, Gordon BR, Lindheimer JB et al.
Sci Rep · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41407729
- Record checked
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