EasyBreezyMind
1 peer-reviewed source, DOI-verifiedUpdated Oct 1, 2026How we verify
Exercise can reduce anxiety symptoms in people who have them. But can it prevent anxiety in people who don’t? This review looked specifically at prevention.
| Study type | Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials |
|---|---|
| Who took part | 350 participants across 3 trials, from 3 countries |
| What was tested | Physical activity in people without anxiety at the start |
| Published | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022 |
| Free to read | Full text on PubMed Central |
| Licence | Open access, Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) |
What the researchers did
The authors searched seven databases for randomized trials that excluded people with anxiety at baseline, used validated measures, and verified that participants actually did the activity.
What they found
- Only three trials met the criteria.
- The pooled result showed no significant preventive effect (SMD −0.18).
What this doesn’t prove
- The authors rated the quality of evidence as very low.
- “No evidence of an effect” is not the same as “evidence of no effect” — there simply isn’t enough research yet.
- This doesn’t contradict the larger evidence that exercise reduces existing anxiety symptoms.
How to use this
Move because it helps now: walking and aerobic exercise have strong evidence for easing anxiety symptoms. Read our guide Exercise for anxiety.
In people without anxiety at the start, there was no evidence that physical activity prevented anxiety (SMD −0.18, not significant), though the quality of evidence was very low.
Summary written by EasyBreezyMind in our own words. Original article: Moreno-Peral P, et al. (2022). Effectiveness of Physical Activity in Primary Prevention of Anxiety: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. doi:10.3390/ijerph19031813. © The authors. Published open access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence. This summary is educational and is not endorsed by the authors.