There is a growing amount of experimental evidence demonstrating therapeutic chronic effects of exercise (e.g., resistance exercise, running, and walking) on PTSD symptoms. However, it is currently unclear how individuals with PTSD experience exercise within individual exercise sessions (e.g., pleasurable or distressing), and if these acute experiences influence PTSD symptoms over time. Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the acute effects of high intensity resistance exercise on affect, perceived arousal, and distress among individuals who screened positive for PTSD, using a randomized controlled design. Additionally, this study sought to explore longitudinal relations among affect, arousal, distress, and PTSD symptom severity. Methods: This study analyzed pooled data from two methodologically similar randomized controlled trials (i.e., a pilot and replication study). Participants (n = 52) were randomly assigned to exercise or non-exercise time-matched control. Data were analyzed with a series of longitudinal mixed-effects regression models. Results: The analyses suggest that positive affect increased, and distress decreased significantly during exercise sessions, relative to control. Independent of group, increases in positive affect and decreases in distress also significantly predicted decreases in PTSD symptom severity over the course of the study. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings suggest that high intensity resistance exercise is safe for individuals who screen positive for PTSD, pleasurable, and may have a therapeutic impact on trauma survivors. No evidence for symptom exacerbation was found. Future experimental studies are needed to verify these findings and determine if the observed relationships are similar for other exercise modes, durations, and intensities.

越来越多的实验证据表明运动（例如，抗阻运动、跑步和步行）对 PTSD 症状具有治疗性慢性作用。然而，目前尚不清楚患有 PTSD 的人如何在个人锻炼期间体验锻炼（例如，愉悦或痛苦），以及这些急性体验是否会随着时间的推移影响 PTSD 症状。目的：本研究的目的是使用随机对照设计，检查高强度阻力运动对 PTSD 筛查呈阳性的个体的情感、觉醒和痛苦的急性影响。此外，本研究试图探索情感、觉醒、痛苦和 PTSD 症状严重程度之间的纵向关系。方法：本研究分析了来自两个方法学上相似的随机对照试验（即试验和复制研究）的汇总数据。参与者 (n = 52) 被随机分配到运动或非运动时间匹配控制组。使用一系列纵向混合效应回归模型分析数据。结果：分析表明，相对于对照组，在运动过程中积极影响增加，痛苦显着减少。独立于组别，积极影响的增加和痛苦的减少也显着预测了研究过程中 PTSD 症状严重程度的降低。结论：综上所述，这些发现表明高强度阻力运动对于 PTSD 筛查呈阳性的个体是安全的、令人愉快的，并且可能对创伤幸存者产生治疗影响。没有发现症状恶化的证据。需要未来的实验研究来验证这些发现，并确定观察到的关系是否与其他运动模式、持续时间和强度相似。