A time compositional analysis of the association between movement behaviors and indicators of mental health in young adults

Sedentary behavior and physical activity are associated with risk of depression among adult and older populations: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

Background

Depression symptoms are commonly experienced by adults and older people; however, there is uncertainty concerning the associations of lifestyle with the risk of depression. This study systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed observational data to assess the link between instrumented sedentary behavior (i-SB) and physical activity (i-PA) measures and depression risk among adult and older populations.

Methods

A systematic review across four databases was performed up to July 27, 2024, targeting studies linking i-SB, i-PA, and depression. The review included a dose-response meta-analysis, presenting results as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results

Fifty-one studies, encompassing 1,318,687 participants, fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The comparison between the most and least sedentary groups yielded a pooled OR of 1.09 (95% CI 1.05-1.13). The comparison between the least and most active participant groups yielded pooled ORs of 0.96 (95% CI 0.93-0.98) for light activity (LPA), 0.91 (95% CI 0.86-0.96) for moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA), 0.93 (95% CI 0.90-0.96) for total physical activity (TPA), and 0.87 (95% CI 0.81-0.94) for steps per day. After adjusting i-PA, a lower OR for i-SB did not indicate a significant link to increased depression risk. Meta-regression analyses confirmed a dose-response relationship between SB, MVPA, daily steps, and depression.

Conclusion

The association between i-SB and the risk of depression was not consistent with the results of previous self-reported studies. MVPA linked to the risk of depression was independent of i-SB, whereas the link between i-SB and the risk of depression was not independent of i-PA.

Systematic review registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=546666, identifier CRD42024546666.

A systematic review of research reporting practices in observational studies examining associations between 24-h movement behaviors and indicators of health using compositional data analysis

Background

Compositional data analysis (CoDA) techniques are well suited for examining associations between 24-h movement behaviors (i.e., sleep, sedentary behavior, physical activity) and indicators of health given they recognize these behaviors are co-dependent, representing relative parts that make up a whole day. Accordingly, CoDA techniques have seen increased adoption in the past decade, however, heterogeneity in research reporting practices may hinder efforts to synthesize and quantify these relationships via meta-analysis. This systematic review described reporting practices in studies that used CoDA techniques to investigate associations between 24-h movement behaviors and indicators of health.

Methods

A systematic search of eight databases was conducted, in addition to supplementary searches (e.g., forward/backward citations, expert consultation). Observational studies that used CoDA techniques involving log-ratio transformation of behavioral data to examine associations between time-based estimates of 24-h movement behaviors and indicators of health were included. Reporting practices were extracted and classified into seven areas: (1) methodological justification, (2) behavioral measurement and data handling strategies, (3) composition construction, (4) analytic plan, (5) composition-specific descriptive statistics, (6) model results, and (7) auxiliary information. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed by the National Institutes of Health Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-sectional Studies.

Results

102 studies met our inclusion criteria. Reporting practices varied considerably across areas, with most achieving high standards in methodological justification, but inconsistent reporting across all other domains. Some items were reported in all studies (e.g., how many parts the daily composition was partitioned into), whereas others seldom reported (e.g., definition of a day: midnight-to-midnight versus wake-to-wake). Study quality and risk of bias was fair in most studies (85%).

Conclusions

Current studies generally demonstrate inconsistent reporting practices. Consistent, clear and detailed reporting practices are evidently needed moving forward as the field of time-use epidemiology aims to accurately capture and analyze movement behavior data in relation to health outcomes, facilitate comparisons across studies, and inform public health interventions and policy decisions. Achieving consensus regarding reporting recommendations is a key next step.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44167-024-00062-8.

Meeting 24-h movement behavior guidelines is linked to academic engagement, psychological functioning, and cognitive difficulties in youth with internalizing problems

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to investigate associations of meeting 24-h movement behavior (24-HMB: physical activity [PA], screen time [ST] in the school-aged youth, and sleep) guidelines with indicators of academic engagement, psychological functioning, and cognitive function in a national representative sample of U.S. youth.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 1794 participants aged 6 to 17 years old were included for multivariable logistic regression to determine the above-mentioned associations, while adjusting for sociodemographic and health covariates.

RESULTS

The proportion of participants who met 24-HMB guideline(s) varied greatly (PA+ ST+ sleep = 34 [weighted 1.17 %], PA + ST = 23 [weighted 1.72 %], PA + sleep = 52 [weighted 2.15 %], PA = 34 [weighted 2.88 %], ST = 142 [weighted 7.5 %], ST+ sleep = 209 [weighted 11.86 %], sleep = 725 [weighted 35.5 %], none = 575 [weighted 37.22 %]). Participants who met ST guideline alone and integrated (ST + Sleep and ST + sleep + PA) guidelines demonstrated the consistently beneficial associations with learning interest/curiosity, caring for school performance, completing required homework, resilience, cognitive difficulties, self-regulation (ps < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Meeting 24-HMB guidelines in an isolated or integrative manner was associated with improved academic engagement, psychological functioning, and reduced cognitive difficulties. These findings highlight the importance of the promotion of 24-HMB guidelines in youth with internalizing problems. Future longitudinal studies are needed to investigate whether changes or modifications of meeting specific 24-HMB guidelines (especially ST) is beneficial for youth with internalizing problems.

Prospective association between 24-hour movement behaviors and mental health among overweight/obese college students: a compositional data analysis approach

Background

24-h movement behaviors, including light physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), screen-based sedentary behavior (SSB), non-screen-based sedentary behavior (NSB) and sleep are crucial components affecting mental health. This study aimed to examine the associations of movement behaviors with mental health outcomes among overweight/obese college students using a compositional data analysis approach.

Methods

Using a prospective design, 437 Chinese college students (20.1 ± 1.7 years, 51.7% female) completed a two-wave online data collection, where demographics and movement behaviors (LPA, MVPA, SSB, NSB, sleep) were collected at baseline, while depression, anxiety and stress were measured at the 2-month follow-up (Apr-Jul 2022). Compositional data analyses were implemented using R.

Results

Depression, anxiety, and stress were negatively associated with time spent in MVPA and sleep (p < 0.001) and positively associated with time spent in SSB and NSB (p < 0.001). Reallocating 15 min to MVPA from LPA, SSB and NSB predicted improvements in depression (LPA: -0.234 unit; SSB: -0.375 unit; NSB: -0.249 unit), anxiety (LPA: -0.092 unit; SSB: -0.284 unit; NSB: -0.165 unit), and stress (LPA: -0.083 unit; SSB: -0.312 unit; NSB: -0.191 unit). For dose-response relationships of 5-55 min isotemporal substitution, when time was reallocated to MVPA from LPA, NSB, and SSB, the estimated detriments to mental health were larger in magnitude than the estimated benefits of time reallocation from MVPA to LPA, NSB, and SSB.

Conclusion

The findings emphasize the importance of participating in MVPA to improve mental health in overweight/obese college students during the post-COVID-19 era. The compositional analysis produced clear targets for the time allocation of these behaviors for future interventions and policymaking.