Acute effects of exercise on affective responses, cravings and heart rate variability in inpatients with alcohol use disorder – A randomized cross-over trial

Abstract Problem Exercise programs may increase abstinence rate in patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, adherence to exercise programs is influenced by acute affective responses during the activity and preferences regarding the type of exercise. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the effects of two different exercise types on affective responses, cravings and heart rate variability (HRV). Method Sixteen inpatients with diagnosed AUD were recruited during regular withdrawal treatment and took part in a randomized cross-over trial. Fifteen participants completed three 60-min interventions: a Nordic-walking condition (NW), a Yoga-Gymnastics condition (YG) and a passive control condition (PC). Affective responses, cravings and HRV were assessed before, during, immediately after, as well as 10 and 180 min after each intervention. Results Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed a significantly higher increase in perceived activation during NW vs. PC (partial eta 2  = 0.34) as well as during YG vs. PC (partial eta 2  = 0.33). Affective valence significantly increased during NW vs. YG (partial eta 2  = 0.34). For cravings and HRV, no significant differences between treatment conditions were found. Conclusions Results demonstrated that an acute exercise bout improved affective responses in inpatients with alcohol use disorder and indicated preferences towards NW compared to YG regarding affective valence during exercise. However, there were no differences after the interventions. Related to results of current literature, exercise bouts may provide some short-term motivation for abstinence in therapeutic settings and help preventing alcohol relapse through establishing alternative behavioural patterns.