Exercise as a mediator between childhood adversity and psychological distress: Can BDNF moderate the mediating effect?

Chan JC 1 , Lee CT 2 , Say YH 3 , Lin YF 4 , Tsai MC 5

Affiliations 

  • 1 Education Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
  • 2 Department of Family Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
  • 3 Department of Biological Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Pediatrics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
  • 5 Department of Pediatrics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Genomic Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; Department of Medical Humanities and Social Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: mengchets@gs.ncku.edu.tw
J Psychiatr Res, 2025 Jan 10;182:277-283.
PMID: 39826378 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.01.017

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood events (ACEs) have been associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders in young adulthood. To identify at-risk individuals and potential strategies to combat the negative impacts of ACE, this study investigated the mediating role of exercise in the relationship between psychological distress and ACEs. Further, we examined the moderating effect of the BDNF polymorphism in the mediation relationship.

METHODS: Participants (N = 750, Mage = 20.1 years) completed questionnaires assessing ACEs divided into adverse environment (AE) and childhood maltreatment (CM), exercise, and psychological distress. Salivary genomic DNA was used for genotyping. The significance of the moderated mediation model was assessed using bootstrapping.

RESULTS: There was a significant association between ACEs and psychological distress mediated by exercise. After addition of BDNF polymorphism, we found that the effect of ACEs on psychological distress through exercise was moderated by the BDNF polymorphism (index of moderated mediation = -0.19, [-0.48, -0.04], p-value ≤0.05). Further dividing ACE into AE and CM, the moderated mediation relationship remains significant only with AE (index of moderated mediation = -0.41, [-0.99, -0.10], p-value ≤0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The interaction between BDNF polymorphism and exercise may be a suitable target for interventions in ACEs-experienced individuals for the prevention or reduction of psychological distress.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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