Association between 24-hour movement behaviors and depressive symptoms in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Movement behaviors, such as physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep, are modifiable, and their concurrent consideration may constitute protective measures against depressive symptoms. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between 24-hour movement behaviors and depressive symptoms in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The sample consisted of 88 university students from a public university in the southern region of Bahia, Brazil. Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep were assessed using the ActiGraph wGT3XBT accelerometer for seven consecutive days, as well as the Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire for Adults (SBQ) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to assess the risk for depression. Analyses were performed using the IBM SPSS statistical package version 25.0 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA), with a statistical significance level of p<0.05 and a 95% confidence interval. Results: 79.5% (n = 70) of the sample presented depressive symptoms, while 51.1% (n = 45) presented risk for depression. In the accelerometer-based cluster analysis, a higher risk of depression was found when meeting only one (PR: 1.45; p = 0.006) or none (PR: 1.44; p = 0.003) of the 24H movement behavior recommendation when compared to two or more. Conclusion: It is concluded that movement behaviors, either combined or in isolation, were partially associated with an increased risk of depression when assessed using an accelerometer. In addition, meeting one or no recommendations increases the risk for depressive symptoms when compared to those who meet two or all recommendations.