The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of short-term aerobic exercise on depression symptoms and body image attitudes among Iranian women. In this quasiexperimental study, 82 females were assigned to experimental group (aerobic exercise group, ) or control group (waiting list, ) and evaluated by Beck Depression Inventory-second edition (BDI-II) and Multidimensional Body Self-Relation Questionnaire (MBSRQ), respectively. The experimental group received four-week aerobic exercise program, and control group had been asked to wait for the next four weeks. Results of this study confirmed the significant decrease in depression symptoms at the experimental group compared to control group . For the body image dependent variables, significant improvement was also found in appearance evaluation, appearance orientation, health orientation, and illness orientation in aerobic exercise group . 1. Introduction Negative body image and body-image dissatisfaction are two cognitive symptoms in depression which can also be the cause of depression [1–4]. Body image refers to the accuracy of an individual’s perception about body size and thoughts and feelings associated with his or her body [5]. It has profound implications for various psychological disorders and disturbances such as low self-esteem, depression, social anxiety, sexual dysfunction, anorexia nervosa, and body-dysmorphic disorder [2, 6]. Over the last decades, increasing sociocultural emphasis on physical attractiveness and fitness by most of the mass media has raised very deep concern among psychologists and sociologists which may contributed to the increasing rate of body-image dissatisfaction among women [2, 7–9]. Traditional treatment of these disorders is based on pharmacology and psychotherapy, which can be very expensive and time consuming [10]. The symptoms of depression do not however respond to antidepressant drugs until they have been administered for 10 to 20 days which also suggests that a similar period of exercise is needed for adaptations in neural regulation. Thus, approximately four-week adherence to aerobic exercise may be needed to observe changes in mood state and depression. In aerobic exercise sessions that were conducted in gymnasium settings, motivation to get exercise is provided, respectively. However, it remains to be seen how effective short-term exercise could be. In addition, recent research has not considered the effect of short-term exercise on body image and depression with most published studies being conducted in western countries and Asian societies [11]. This
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