Independence through community access and navigation: A supported leisure intervention for individuals with negative symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Promoting leisure participation requires a collaborative approach that emphasizes personal interests, strengths, and motivations. The purpose of this article was to test the effectiveness of the Independence through Community Access and Navigation (ICAN) intervention on community participation, recreation participation, and positive emotions among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Using motivational interviewing and an individualized placements and support framework, the ICAN intervention focuses on working with participants to identify and participate in personally meaningful leisure activities by connecting with personal motivations and mainstream community opportunities. METHOD: This randomized controlled trial was conducted with 74 participants diagnosed with schizophrenia with assessments conducted at baseline and posttreatment. Intervention effects were examined with repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Multiple regression analysis was also performed using a change score as an outcome variable and baseline negative symptoms score, condition, and interaction as predictors. RESULTS: There was no significant main effect of ICAN on positive emotions, recreation participation, or community participation; however, among those in the experimental group, those with impairments in motivation and pleasure experienced improvements in community participation. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: For individuals experiencing greater negative symptoms, a supported leisure intervention may be an effective strategy to explore personal motivations and increase leisure participation. Future research should test the intervention effectiveness specifically targeting a larger sample of individuals with more severe negative symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Acceptance in Everyday Loneliness Among Adults with Serious Mental Illness.

There is a high prevalence of loneliness among adults with serious mental illness (SMI) with most research focusing on stable contributing factors. This study sought to identify the role of dispositional loneliness and internalized stigma, as well as the momentary feelings of acceptance on experiential loneliness among adults with SMI. Data were collected using ecological momentary assessment via smart phones, and 89 adults with a SMI were included. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to identify the role of dispositional and experience factors in experiential loneliness. Findings indicated that (a) dispositional internalized stigma, (b) being at home, (c) being alone and, (d) a cross-level interaction between dispositional loneliness and feelings of acceptance best fit the data. The relationship of acceptance to experiential loneliness was strongest among the most lonely. Supporting people with SMI to develop social connections contributing to their relational value may enhance feelings of acceptance and reduce loneliness.

Disparities in severe loneliness between adults with and without a serious mental illness.

OBJECTIVE: Severe loneliness infrequently occurs in the general population but has very significant impacts on health and quality of life. This study examined the extent to which severe loneliness is experienced by adults with serious mental illnesses (SMIs) relative to adults in the general population and its possible implications for psychiatric rehabilitation services. METHOD: Data were gathered from samples of individuals with SMI (N = 231) and a general community sample of adults (N = 300) using the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale. RESULTS: The results indicate that loneliness was much greater among those with SMI than the general adult population sample (Cohen's d = 1.220) and approximately 41% of the participants with SMI were "severely lonely" versus 7.3% of the non-SMI adult sample. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Severe loneliness is extremely common among individuals with SMI. Psychiatric rehabilitation services that focus on socialization and mattering are needed to address this significant public health issue. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Participation in arts and culture among individuals with serious mental illnesses and its relationship to quality of life and recovery.

OBJECTIVE: Engagement in arts and cultural activities is valued and yields positive outcomes but may be understudied in populations with serious mental illness (SMI). Our aims are to evaluate the extent to which individuals with SMI deem participation areas related to arts and culture (e.g., going to a theater) to be important, and if important, how often they are being done and if it is enough in comparison to a nonSMI sample. METHODS: We conducted analyses using a sample of 1,120 individuals with SMI from nine research studies between 2008 and 2016 and a sample of 300 individuals without SMI that were part of the Truven Health Analytics PULSE survey. All participants completed a survey containing questions related community participation. Analyses were conducted using independent samples t tests, followed by analysis of variances, and chi-square tests. RESULTS: The results indicate that adults with SMI are as, or more interested in arts and cultural activities as adults in the general population, but do not participate in those areas as much as they would like in comparison. We also found that, as with the general population, participation in these areas is positively associated with quality of life and to a lesser degree, recovery. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Engagement in arts and culture activities may be an overlooked compared to other areas of participation, such as employment. Psychiatric rehabilitation practitioners may need to pay greater attention to areas related to art appreciation, rather than just art production. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Housing and loneliness among individuals with serious mental illnesses.

BACKGROUND: People with serious mental illnesses (SMI) have higher levels of loneliness than the general population. Furthermore, people with SMI tend to be less satisfied with their housing and tend to move more frequently. AIM: This study aims to examine relationships between housing variables (whom they live with, duration of residence, and satisfaction) and loneliness among individuals with SMI. METHODS: Data were collected from 188 adults with SMI in greater Philadelphia area. Classification and Regression Trees (CART) were used to examine whether whom they live with, duration of residence, and housing satisfaction were associated with loneliness. RESULTS: Housing satisfaction was found to be the most prominent predictor of loneliness. Those who were unsatisfied with their overall housing conditions always had the highest level of loneliness, regardless of other factors. Even if they were satisfied with their housing conditions, their loneliness was higher if they had just moved to the new residence. Participants had lower loneliness the longer they lived in a residence and had the lowest loneliness levels after about three years. CONCLUSION: Housing is associated with loneliness among people with SMI. Psychiatric service providers should increase support to factors contributing to housing satisfaction and duration of residence, including active engagement in the community.

Community Mental Health Center Visits and Community Mobility of People with Serious Mental Illnesses: A Facilitator or Constraint?

Mental health services and interventions have increasingly focused on the importance of community participation and mobility for people with serious mental illnesses (SMI). This study examined the role that visits to community mental health centers (CMHCs) may play in increasing community mobility of people with SMI. Eighty-nine adults with SMI receiving services at three CMHCS were tracked with GPS-enabled phones over a 13-day period. Findings revealed that participants visited more destinations on days they went to a CMHC compared to days they did not. They also spent more time out of the home and traveled greater distances. Results suggest that the benefits of visiting a mental health center appear to go beyond treatment outcomes, but also point to the possibility that obligations, whether to a clinic appointment or possibly vocational, educational, leisure, faith, or social commitments, may be an important stepping stone to more mobility and intentional, sustained community participation.

"Getting out of the house: The relationship of venturing into the community and neurocognition among adults with serious mental illness": Correction.

Reports an error in "Getting out of the house: The relationship of venturing into the community and neurocognition among adults with serious mental illness" by Bryan P. McCormick, Eugene Brusilovskiy, Gretchen Snethen, Louis Klein, Greg Townley and Mark S. Salzer (Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Advanced Online Publication, Apr 01, 2021, np). In the original article, the following acknowledgments were missing from the author note: : "The contents of this article were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR; Grant 901F0065-02-00; Mark S. Salzer, principal investigator). However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and endorsement by the federal government should not be assumed. The authors are grateful to Kevin Frech, Stephany Wilson, Alison Weigl, Jared Pryor, David Glogoza and Katie Pizziketti for their assistance with data collection and analysis and to Alex Fechner for providing his implementation of the ST-DBSCAN algorithm in RapidMiner." All versions of the original article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2021-32212-001). Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if environmental novelty was associated with neurocognitive function among adults with serious mental illness. Method: Participants were recruited from community mental health centers (n = 117), and received a Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled cellular phone for 13 days. Data were also collected on cognitive function and recent participation in community-based activities. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to identify differences in neurocognitive function between participants who predominantly stayed in their homes ("homebodies") versus those who ventured more often from their homes ("venturers"). Analyses were also undertaken to identify if the nature of community participation activities mediated the relationship of neurocognitive function to group membership. Results: Overall, 74% of GPS signals were from participants' home residence. Homebodies demonstrated significantly poorer cognitive function than venturers, and this relationship was not mediated by a number of unique destinations or breadth of community participation activities. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: This study identified a subset of adults with serious mental illnesses who left their homes infrequently and who demonstrate significantly poorer cognitive function than those who left their homes more frequently. Spending extensive amounts of time in an unchanging environment may be a contributing factor to poor cognitive function, and a potential area for intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Getting out of the house: The relationship of venturing into the community and neurocognition among adults with serious mental illness.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal on May 20 2021 (see record 2021-48272-001). In the original article, the following acknowledgments were missing from the author note: : "The contents of this article were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR; Grant 901F0065-02-00; Mark S. Salzer, principal investigator). However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and endorsement by the federal government should not be assumed. The authors are grateful to Kevin Frech, Stephany Wilson, Alison Weigl, Jared Pryor, David Glogoza and Katie Pizziketti for their assistance with data collection and analysis and to Alex Fechner for providing his implementation of the ST-DBSCAN algorithm in RapidMiner." All versions of the original article have been corrected.] Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if environmental novelty was associated with neurocognitive function among adults with serious mental illness. Method: Participants were recruited from community mental health centers (n = 117), and received a Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled cellular phone for 13 days. Data were also collected on cognitive function and recent participation in community-based activities. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to identify differences in neurocognitive function between participants who predominantly stayed in their homes ("homebodies") versus those who ventured more often from their homes ("venturers"). Analyses were also undertaken to identify if the nature of community participation activities mediated the relationship of neurocognitive function to group membership. Results: Overall, 74% of GPS signals were from participants' home residence. Homebodies demonstrated significantly poorer cognitive function than venturers, and this relationship was not mediated by a number of unique destinations or breadth of community participation activities. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: This study identified a subset of adults with serious mental illnesses who left their homes infrequently and who demonstrate significantly poorer cognitive function than those who left their homes more frequently. Spending extensive amounts of time in an unchanging environment may be a contributing factor to poor cognitive function, and a potential area for intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Community participation as a predictor of depressive symptoms among individuals with serious mental illnesses.

BACKGROUND: People with serious mental illnesses have elevated levels of depressive symptoms. Limited engagement in meaningful activities, such as work, social interactions, volunteering, and participation in faith, are one plausible explanation for this. Increased community participation over time may be associated with decreased depressive symptoms. AIM: Examine whether an increase in participation over time predicts a decrease in depression after controlling for depression at the baseline. METHODS: Participants were 183 adults with schizophrenia spectrum, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder who completed the Hopkins Symptom Index - Depression subscale and the Temple University Community Participation Measure. Participants completed these measures at baseline and either a 12- or 24-month follow-up timepoint. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with the depression score as a dependent variable and changes in community participation as a predictor variable. Demographics, baseline depression score, and time interval between baseline and last observation were entered as control variables. RESULTS: Endorsing more activities as important, participating in more important areas that are important, and participating 'enough' in more important areas over time were each significant predictors of decreases in depression. CONCLUSION: These findings enhance the connection between community participation and depression and suggest that a focus on participation may be important in terms of boosting both community functioning and treatment goals.

The Relationship between Community Participation and Physical Activity among Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses.

INTRODUCTION: The importance of physical activity (PA) and health outcomes for individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI) has been well documented. It is also established that individuals with SMI engage in high amounts of sedentary behavior and low amounts of physical activity, which contributes to poor health outcomes. This study explores the relationship between community participation, physical activity, and sedentary behavior among individuals with SMI. METHODS: This study used a sample of individuals with SMI who were receiving community mental health services in a large urban area of the United States. Of the 526 individuals approached, 308 were interested in the study; 173 consented and completed data collection. This study reports on 152 participants who had complete data. Using the Temple University Community Participation Scale, participants reported on community-based activities completed independently in the previous 30 days. Additionally, participants were asked to wear a tri-axial accelerometer (ActiGraph GT3X) on the non-dominant wrist for seven days. The total number of community participation days was correlated with PA variables including steps, sedentary, light, and moderate-vigorous PA. Two groups of step data were analyzed using t-tests: ≥7500 steps, and ≥ 10,000 steps. Logistic regressions were run to examine the relationship between amount, breadth and sufficiency of community participation and having +/- 7,500 steps and +/- 10,000 daily steps, controlling for age, gender, and income. RESULTS: Amount of community participation was inversely associated with the % of time in sedentary activity and positively associated with the % of time in moderate to vigorous PA. Those with at or more than 7500 steps and 10,000 steps reported significantly more days of community participation. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the contribution of everyday activities for increased physical activity and reduced time spent in sedentary activity. Practitioners should consider recommendations for engagement in the community to increase opportunities for walking.

Depressive symptoms and community participation among individuals with serious mental illnesses.

Community participation is important to the well-being of people with serious mental illnesses. While theories suggest that depressive symptoms can negatively impact community participation, evidence from previous studies was inconclusive. This study analyzed the relationship between severity of depressive symptoms and various participation constructs including number of days of participation in various community activities, breadth of interests in participating in community activities, and satisfaction with the amount to which one participates. A national sample of individuals with serious mental illnesses (n = 296) was employed. Overall, those who were severely depressed had fewer total days of participation, reported fewer participation areas as important, were less likely to participate in those areas that were important to them, and were less likely to participate as much as they wanted to in areas that were important to them. This relationship generally remained even after controlling for demographics. Overall, the findings from this study suggest that greater attention should be paid to the relationship between depressive symptoms and community participation in this population, including explorations that examine how the promotion of participation may have an impact on depressive symptoms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of a mentoring program for adolescents with physical disabilities attending a therapeutic camp.

PURPOSE: Youth with physical disabilities are at an elevated risk for poor psychosocial health. Pediatric medical camps are one common intervention utilized to provide short-term psychosocial support. However, there is a growing criticism that the effects of such programs diminish as participants return to home and school settings post residential camp experience. A post camp support intervention, the first known in the literature, was tested for perceptions of mattering and self-esteem. Specifically, this study examined the psychosocial effect of a year-round mentoring and online support program as an adjunct to residential camp (intervention) as compared to peers that attended only the summer residential experience (comparison group). METHODS: A quasi-experimental design using an intervention and comparison group was implemented. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance to test for within group and between group effect. RESULTS: A small effect (partial η2= 0.096) between groups (p< 0.17) and a moderate effect (partial η2= 0.133) within groups (p< 0.10) was detected for the mattering construct. A positive effect for self-esteem was not detected between or within groups. CONCLUSIONS: The online and mentoring support program appeared to improve perceptions of mattering three months into implementation. Future implications center on the refinement of the support program and suggestions for further longitudinal research.

Emotional states associated with being in the community and being with others among individuals with serious mental illnesses.

Individuals with serious mental illnesses generally spend extensive amounts of time at home and alone. The aim of the current study was to examine differences in emotional states between being at home and being in the community, and between being alone and being with others. Ecological momentary assessment was utilized 3 times per day over 14 days with 91 individuals with serious mental illnesses to assess where they were, who they were with, and momentary feeling of depressed mood, loneliness, and happiness. A total of 2,257 data points were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling. Participants were at home 70.6% of the time and alone 58.6% of the time. After controlling for diagnosis and symptoms, being in the community was associated with lower depressed mood, lower loneliness, and greater happiness, and being with others was associated with lower loneliness and greater happiness. There was no significant interaction effect between being at home and being alone on any emotional states. Being in the community and being with others contributed to more favorable emotional states among individuals with serious mental illnesses. These findings support the need to promote opportunities for community participation and interactions with others outside of one's home. Policies, programs, and clinical practices should align with the goal of supporting people with serious mental illnesses to actively engage in community living to facilitate their emotional well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining the relationship between community mobility and participation using GPS and self-report data.

Higher levels of community mobility have been shown to be associated with better physical health, mental health, and quality of life. The ability to move about one's community is also expected to facilitate community participation, which is an aspect of health functioning. This study uses Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology to track various dimensions of community mobility, such as destinations, time outside the home, and distance traveled, and examine the relationship between these variables and community participation in a sample of individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI). This population was selected because they are known to have diminished health functioning in terms of their community participation, and the goal is to explore the extent to which mobility limitations may account for this. A total of 103 individuals with serious mental illnesses were recruited from mental health agencies and consented to having their mobility tracked using GPS for 13 days and answering questions about their community-based activities. Greater amount of participation was associated with having more destinations and spending more time out of the house, but not with traveling larger distances and having a greater activity space. None of the mobility variables were related to the number of important participation areas or sufficiency of participation. The findings support the hypothesis that greater mobility is related to more participation, although satisfaction with the degree to which one participates does not appear to be impacted, suggesting that other factors need to be accounted for. Health policymakers and providers should pay attention to community mobility as a factor that affects health outcomes such as participation, in individuals with serious mental illnesses, and other populations. In particular, attending to access to personal transport, public transportation, and other mobility options appears to be important, as well as interventions aimed at encouraging greater community mobility.

Mobile enhancement of motivation in schizophrenia: A pilot randomized controlled trial of a personalized text message intervention for motivation deficits.

OBJECTIVE: Motivation deficits remain an unmet treatment need in schizophrenia. Recent research has identified mechanisms underlying motivation deficits (i.e., impaired effort-cost computations, reduced future reward-value representation maintenance) that may be effective treatment targets to improve motivation. This study tested the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of Mobile Enhancement of Motivation in Schizophrenia (MEMS), an intervention that leverages mobile technology to target these mechanisms with text messages. METHOD: Fifty-six participants with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder were randomized to MEMS (n = 27) or a control condition (n = 29). All participants set recovery goals to complete over 8 weeks. Participants in the MEMS group additionally received personalized, interactive text messages on their personal cellphones each weekday. RESULTS: Retention and engagement in MEMS were high: 92.6% completed 8 weeks of MEMS, with an 86.1% text message response rate, and 100% reported being satisfied with the text messages. Compared to participants in the control condition, the participants in the MEMS condition had significantly greater improvements in interviewer-rated motivation and anticipatory pleasure and attained significantly more recovery-oriented goals at 8 weeks. There were no significant group differences in purported mechanisms (performance-based effort-cost computations and future reward-value representations) or in self-reported motivation, quality of life, or functioning. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrate that MEMS is feasible as a brief, low-intensity mobile intervention that could effectively improve some aspects of motivation (i.e., initiation and maintenance of goal-directed behaviors) and recovery goal attainment for those with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. More work is needed with larger samples and to understand the mechanisms of change in MEMS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Leisure behavior and sense of coherence in the context of depression.

AIMS: Improved sense of coherence (SOC) can protect health among individuals with depression. Literature suggests that leisure behavior can improve SOC, yet empirical studies are lacking. The current study aimed to examine whether leisure behavior was associated with SOC and depression. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey method was used with a sample of community-living adults (62% female, age 18-75 years) with a self-reported current or historical diagnosis of depression recruited from four different depression-related populations. RESULTS: The results of structural equation modeling found that leisure behavior predicted greater SOC as well as lower depressive symptoms. Greater SOC was associated with lower perceived stress and lower depressive symptoms. The total effect size, including both direct and indirect association between leisure behavior and depressive symptoms was 0.452. CONCLUSION: The findings suggested the potential benefits of leisure behavior on SOC and depressive symptoms.

The association of depression stigma with barriers to seeking mental health care: a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Stigma is one of several barriers to seeking mental health care. However, few studies have examined how stigma relates to other common barriers (e.g. attitudes about treatment, cost, time).Aims: This study investigated whether depression stigma (internalized or perceived) was related to other treatment-seeking barriers (attitudinal, structural) and whether depression severity influenced the strength of the association.Methods: We used multivariable-adjusted linear regression to model barrier outcomes as a function of internalized and perceived stigma in an undergraduate population (N = 2551). We evaluated potential effect modification by depression severity using likelihood-ratio tests.Results: Internalized stigma displayed a stronger association with overall barriers to care (including perceived need, negative treatment expectations, and structural barriers) than did perceived stigma. Higher internalized stigma predicted a stronger emphasis on each barrier to treatment measured. Sub-components of internalized stigma (e.g. alienation, stereotype endorsement) uniquely predicted a greater emphasis on distinct barriers.Conclusions: Internalized stigma is strongly linked to greater perception of barriers to mental health care. It may be necessary to address stigma and barriers concurrently rather than independently.

An exploration of linear and curvilinear relationships between community participation and neurocognition among those with serious mental illnesses.

OBJECTIVE: Longitudinal research supports an effect of participation in aspects of community life (e.g., leisure activity, employment) on neurocognition in the general population. This study examined the extent and nature of the relationship between community participation and neurocognition among people with serious mental illnesses. METHOD: Participants included 168 adults with schizophrenia spectrum or affective disorder diagnoses who completed the Temple University Community Participation Measure and Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses explored linear and curvilinear effects of the amount and breadth of community participation on neurocognition. RESULTS: Significant linear relationships existed between amount of community participation and overall neurocognitive functioning, motor speed, verbal fluency, and attention/processing speed, and between breadth of participation and verbal fluency. Significant curvilinear effects were noted between amount of community participation and verbal memory, and between breadth of community participation and overall neurocognitive functioning and motor speed. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Findings suggest that enhanced community participation may contribute to improved neurocognitive functioning, further supporting the importance of this rehabilitation target. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The effect of leisure coping on depressive symptoms among individuals with depression: examination of potential confounding effects of physical activity and extraversion.

Clinically significant depression has been consistently identified as a phenomenon directly linked to stress and stress coping. Leisure behavior as purposeful coping strategy (i.e. leisure coping) has been advanced as a potential approach to address depression; however, the leisure coping effect on depressive symptoms has not examined with two potential confounders: physical activity and extraversion. Physical activity's anti-depressant effect is widely known, and there is also a link between extraversion and lower depressive symptoms. The current study examined whether leisure coping has a significant effect on depressive symptoms among individuals with depression when physical activity and extraversion were taken into account. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with respondents recruited from depression support group meetings, an online depression research portal, a state-wide research registry, and an outpatient psychiatric service provider. The analyses included a total of 152 adults (61.8% female) with self-reported depression who were age 18-75. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed to identify the strengths of association between leisure coping and depressive symptoms after accounting for covariates (demographics and perceived stress) and potential confounders (physical activity and extraversion). After a statistical control for physical activity and extraversion, leisure coping was significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms (ß = -.300, p < .01). Physical activity was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in the model with leisure coping, but it became non-significant in the model with extraversion. The results suggested that leisure coping contributes to lower depressive symptoms independent from physical activity and extraversion. Introverts may be disadvantaged to take advantage of physical activity, but leisure coping might be one strategy to influence depressive symptoms. Further investigations should seek to verify this relationship as well as explore leisure coping as an intervention for depression.

Effects of high-intensity interval versus mild-intensity endurance training on metabolic phenotype and corticosterone response in rats fed a high-fat or control diet.

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of high-intensity interval training (HI) to mild-intensity endurance training (ME), combined with a high-fat diet (HFD) or control diet (CD) on metabolic phenotype and corticosterone levels in rats. Fifty-three rats were randomized to 6 groups according to diet and training regimen as follows: CD and sedentary (CS, n = 11), CD and ME (CME, n = 8), CD and HI (CHI, n = 8), HFD and sedentary (HS, n = 10), HFD and ME (HME, n = 8), and HFD and HI (HHI, n = 8). All exercise groups were trained for 10 weeks and had matched running distances. Dietary intake, body composition, blood metabolites, and corticosterone levels were measured. Histological lipid droplets were observed in the livers. The HFD led to hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and higher body fat (all, P < 0.01, η2 > 0.06), as well as higher corticosterone levels (P < 0.01, η2 = 0.09) compared with the CD groups. Exercise training improved fat weight, glucose, and lipid profiles, and reduced corticosterone levels (P < 0.01, η2 = 0.123). Furthermore, body and fat weight, serum glucose and triglycerides, lipid content in the liver, and corticosterone levels (P < 0.05) were lower with HI training compared to ME training. Reductions in HFD-induced body weight gain, blood glucose and lipid profiles, and corticosterone levels, as well as improvements in QUICKI were better with HHI compared to HME. Correlation analyses revealed that corticosterone levels were significantly associated with phenotype variables (P < 0.01). Corticosterone level was inversely correlated with QUICKI (r = -0.38, P < 0.01). Altogether, these results indicate that HFD may elicit an exacerbated basal serum corticosterone level and thus producing a metabolic imbalance. Compared with ME training, HI training contributes to greater improvements in metabolic and corticosterone responses, leading to a greater reduction in susceptibility to HFD-induced disorders.