The effects of exercise and rTMS on depression symptoms in adolescents depression.
📄 Abstract
Depression represents a leading cause of disability among adolescents worldwide, underscoring an urgent need for effective and accessible interventions. While pharmacotherapy is a first-line treatment, adjunctive non-pharmacological approaches like aerobic exercise and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) have shown promise. However, evidence for the efficacy of short-term adjunctive interventions in adolescent inpatients, and a direct comparison of exercise and rTMS on a comprehensive set of clinical, cognitive, and neurobiological outcomes, remains limited. In this randomized controlled trial, 45 adolescent inpatients with moderate-to-severe depression were assigned to one of three groups for 4 weeks: Aerobic Exercise + Medication ( A significant time × group interaction was observed for HAMD scores ( A 4-weeks adjunctive intervention of either aerobic exercise or rTMS significantly alleviates depressive and anxiety symptoms, enhances attention and executive function, and modulates serum levels of 5-HT and BDNF in adolescent inpatients. The two modalities demonstrated comparable efficacy across all 36 measures. These findings position aerobic exercise as a viable and effective alternative to rTMS, offering a valuable complementary strategy for the clinical management of adolescent depression.