Aerobic exercise may ease depression, anxiety and stress in university students, review finds

A review of 14 trials found aerobic exercise may improve depression, anxiety and perceived stress in university students. It described shorter sessions as potentially useful but called dose estimates exploratory, not prescriptions.

Tonnage · published Monday, November 9, 2026 at 2:30 AM ET · 1 min read · 1 source

A woman on a treadmill during a fitness test — Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Jared Lovett / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain photographer license

A review of 14 randomized trials involving 982 university students found aerobic exercise may improve depression, anxiety and perceived stress.1

The authors said short-term programs with sessions under 60 minutes may help. Dose estimates were exploratory, not established exercise prescriptions.1

Stress reductions appeared more evident among students who had depression at the start of a study. For trainers, the findings point to a possible mental-health benefit, but do not set a proven weekly exercise dose.1

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