Association between muscle strength and depressive symptoms among Chinese female college freshmen: a cross-sectional study

Influence of Single-Digit Exclusions on Grip Strength in Healthy Male Adults

Grip strength (GS) of the human hand is vital to deal with objects of various sizes and shapes in daily life. The strength deteriorates if one or more digits of the hand are amputated. The main aim of this study was to determine the influence of single-digit exclusions on the GS. Healthy adults (n = 102, male) with an age range of 20 to 70 years (mean ± SD, 31.92 ± 13.14 years) participated in the study. The movements of unused digits were restrained using splints to avoid digit enslaving effects. T (Thumb), (I) Index, M (Middle), R (Ring), L (Little) digits were chosen for exclusion based on the digit configurations. The digit configurations were IMRL, MRLT, IMRT IRLT and, IMLT with exclusions T, I, L, M, and, R respectively. The results of two-way ANOVA with repeated measures showed no significant interaction (p = 0.923) between hand dominance and digit configurations. But statistical significance (p = 0.000) was observed in digit configurations and hand dominance individually. The results of posthoc analysis using Bonferroni corrected pairwise comparisons showed no statistical significance (p = 0.004) between IRLT and IMLT of both hands since the corrected p-value was 0.003. The outcomes of the F-test showed no statistical significance (p > 0.05) between the digit configurations IMRLT, IMRL; IMRL, MRLT; MRLT, IMRT; IRLT, IMLT individually within dominant (D) and non-dominant (ND) hands. When the F-test was performed using the same digit configurations between both hands, statistical significance was not observed in all the configurations except IMLT (p < 0.05). The results of the Pearson correlation of GS were observed to be very strong between the same digit configurations of D and ND hands.

Physical Fitness for Depression in Adolescents and Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Background

Depression has been recognized as one of the most significant factors affecting mental health status. For this reason, several efforts to prevent and reduce depression in all ages have been made in various domains to identify the relevant factors as well as the causes of depression. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine the effect size between physical fitness and depression in adolescents and adults.

Methods

A systematic search for meta-analysis (2009-2020) was performed using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and RISS, with key terms such as depression, depressive illness, and physical fitness or fitness. Overall, 19 out of 448 articles were included in the meta-analysis with strict inclusion criteria.

Results

The effect size is a medium between physical fitness and depression in adolescents and adults. Two fitness factors, namely cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength, are more relevant for alleviating depression in adolescents and adults, whereas agility was not related to depression. In particular, the cardiovascular fitness factor has an impact on almost all ages; however, muscular strength has less impact on depression in young adolescents, but has a great impact on older adults' depression.

Conclusion

The effect size in this study is a medium between physical fitness and depression in adolescents and adults. Thus, more longitudinal and clinical studies with larger sample sizes are needed to clarify the relationship between physical fitness and depression.

Physical fitness and disordered eating among adolescents: Results from the EHDLA study

The aim of this study was to examine the association between a comprehensive spectrum of physical fitness components and disordered eating symptoms in a sample of Spanish adolescents. This cross-sectional study analysed a representative sample of 741 adolescents (55.1% girls) from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) study (Valle de Ricote, Region of Murcia, Spain). Objective physical fitness (i.e., cardiorespiratory fitness, upper body strength, lower body strength, speed-agility, and flexibility) was assesed by the ALPHA-FIT Test Battery for a young population. Disordered eating symptoms were assessed with the Sick, Control, One, Fat, Food (SCOFF) questionnaire. An incremental inverse association was found in participants with low cardiorespiratory fitness (OR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.56-3.50), low handgrip strength (OR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.33-2.97), low lower body strength (OR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.28-2.86), low speed-agility (OR = 1.75; 95% CI: 1.17-2.62), and low global physical fitness (OR = 2.03; 95% CI: 1.37-3.01) and disordered eating symptoms, compared to participants with a high level of each of these physical fitness components. Our study provides evidence that, in Spanish adolescents, disordered eating symptoms are inversely associated with a comprehensive set of physical fitness components. Hence, it could be relevant to promote physical fitness, e.g., by a multifactorial approach, since it seems to be related to lower disordered eating symptoms in adolescents.

Weak Hand Grip Strength Is Associated with Alexithymia in Outpatients in a Mexican Population

Hand grip strength has been considered as a possible marker for metabolic and psychiatric disease. To date, however, no research has focused on the association between alexithymia and hand grip strength. The objective of the present study was to investigate the correct association between hand grip strength and alexithymia. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Comalcalco, Tabasco, México. A total of 246 individuals were included. Hand grip strength was evaluated in the dominant hand using a Takei^® portable digital dynamometer. Alexithymia was measured using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Two linear regression models adjusted by confounders were used to determine the association between alexithymia and hand grip strength. The rate for positive alexithymia was 39.0% (n = 94). Individuals with alexithymia showed a weaker hand grip strength than the comparison group (t = 2.4, 244 df, p = 0.01). Individuals with alexithymia had significantly reduced levels of hand grip strength (β = −0.39 ± 0.14; p = 0.006); after additional adjustment for clinical variables, decreased hand grip strength remained (β = 8.00 ± 1.86; p ≤ 0.001). Our results suggest that a decrease in hand grip strength could be associated with alexithymia. This measurement could be useful as a predictive marker for the identification of alexithymia in Mexican individuals who attend outpatient clinics.

The association between duration of muscle exercise and psychological symptoms is higher in boys than in girls: A cross-sectional study based on Chinese college students during COVID-19

OBJECTIVE

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many negative effects on the physical and mental health of college students. Although many studies have analyzed the association between muscular fitness and psychological symptoms in children and adolescents, research during the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. Our study focused on analyzing the association between duration of muscle exercise and psychological symptoms among Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHOD

A four-stage stratified whole-group sampling method was used to investigate basic demographic information, duration of muscle exercise and psychological symptoms in 5,559 college students aged 19-22 years in China. Chi-square test (categorical variables) and one-way ANOVA (continuous variables) were used to compare the psychological symptoms of college students with different durations of muscle exercise. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between duration of muscle exercise and psychological symptoms.

RESULT

The detection rate of psychological symptoms among Chinese college students was 9.0%; the detection rate was 10.7% for boys and 7.6% for girls. The proportions of duration of muscle exercise at <30 min/d, 30-60 min/d, and >60 min/d were 75.0%, 20.4%, and 4.6%, respectively. After adjusting for relevant confounding variables, taking Chinese college students with duration of muscle exercise >60 min/d as the reference group, duration of muscle exercise <30 min/d was positively correlated with the occurrence of psychological symptoms (OR: 4.19, 95%CI: 1.82, 9.61) (P < 0.001). In emotional symptoms (OR: 4.56, 95%CI: 1.99, 10.44), behavioral symptoms (OR: 3.44, 95%CI: 1.79, 6.60), social adaptation difficulties (OR: 3.04, 95%CI: 1.62, 5.68) dimensions, there is also a positive correlation (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The negative association between duration of muscle exercise and psychological symptoms among Chinese college students also suggests that longer duration of muscle exercise among college students is associated with a lower prevalence of psychological symptoms. The association between duration of muscle exercise and psychological symptoms was higher in boys compared to girls.

The association between prior physical fitness and depression in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic-a cross-sectional, retrospective study

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a spike in deleterious mental health. This dual-center retrospective cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence of depression in young adults during this pandemic and explored its association with various physical fitness measures.

Methods

This study enrolled 12,889 (80% female) young adults (mean age 20 ± 1) who performed a National Student Physical Fitness battery from December 1st, 2019, to January 20th, 2020, and completed a questionnaire including Beck’s Depression Inventory in May 2020. Independent associations between prior physical fitness and depression during the pandemic were assessed using multivariable linear and binary logistic regressions accordingly, covariates including age, dwelling location, economic level, smoking, alcohol, living status, weight change, and exercise volume during the pandemic. Sex- and baseline stress-stratified analyses were performed.

Results

Of the study population 13.9% of men and 15.0% of women sampled qualified for a diagnosis of depression. After multivariable adjustment, anaerobic (mean change 95% CI −3.3 [−4.8 to 1.8]) aerobic (−1.5 [−2.64 to −0.5]), explosive (−1.64 [−2.7 to −0.6]) and muscular (−1.7 [−3.0 to −0.5]) fitness were independently and inversely associated with depression for the overall population. These remained consistent after sex- and baseline stress-stratification. In binary logistic regression, the combined participants with moderate, high or excellent fitness also showed a much lower risk compared to those least fit in anaerobic (odd ratio (OR) 95% CI 0.68 [0.55–0.82]), aerobic (0.80 [0.68–0.91]), explosive (0.72 [0.61–0.82]), and muscular (0.66 [0.57–0.75]) fitness.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that prior physical fitness may be inversely associated with depression in young adults during a pandemic.