Sedentary behaviors negatively related to depressive symptoms in college students:The roles of type and duration of sedentary behaviors

Objective: This study aimed to examine the associations between different types and duration of sedentary behaviors and depressive symptoms among college students.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a university in Shanghai, China, utilizing convenience sampling to recruit 3,190 participants (mean age 20.06 ± 1.23 years). Sedentary behaviors were self-reported using a structured questionnaire detailing the average daily time spent in different types of sedentary behaviors. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10). Linear regression models were conducted to analyze the associations between sedentary behaviors and depressive symptoms with adjustment for relevant covariates.

Results: Recreational screen-based sedentary behaviors were significantly associated with higher depressive symptom scores on both weekdays (B= 0.523, 95% CI= 0.409 to 0.637, p<0.001) and weekends (B= 0.313, 95% CI= 0.221 to 0.406, p<0.001). Study-related sedentary behaviors showed no significant association on weekdays (p>0.05), but were significantly associated with depressive symptoms on weekends (B= 0.084, 95% CI= 0.017 to 0.151, p<0.05). Other types of sedentary behaviors (e.g., commuting and eating) also showed a positive association with depression scores on both weekdays and weekends (p<0.05). Longer durations of recreational screen-based and study-related sedentary behaviors (both p<0.05) were associated with higher depressive symptom scores.

Conclusion: The study suggests that the associations between sedentary behaviors and depressive symptoms vary by the type and context of sedentary behavior. Additionally, the duration of each sedentary behavior bout is a significant influencing factor.