A new study has debunked the popular belief that physical activity can help reduce the risk of depressive symptoms in adolescents, stating there is no link between the two factors.

Depression is a common but serious mood disorder that causes symptoms such as feelings of hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, insomnia, guilt, and thoughts of suicide, among others. Depression affects about 9 percent of Americans, with 3.4 percent suffering from severe depression.

It’s long been believed that physical exercise helps to curb feelings of depression. Yet in the latest study, researchers from the University of Cambridge, UK, discovered that there is no significant link between physical exercise and depressive symptoms in adolescents.

The researchers analyzed data on 736 study participants, who were an average age of 14.5 years. The participants were followed between 2005 and 2010 following the baseline. They measured the amount of physical activity they performed on a regular basis, as well as how vigorous the activity was.

Physical activity measures were further broken down into weekday and weekend activity. The researchers then measured mood symptoms in the participants via a self-reported questionnaire, after which an interview was conducted at baseline and three years later.

The researchers discovered no association between the levels of physical activity at age 14 years and depressive symptoms at age 17 years.

While the researchers do not eliminate the possibility that physical activity positively affects a person’s mood, they suggest that such an effect might be small, or even non-existent during adolescence.

The findings are published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.