Reallocating 30 minutes from sedentary behavior to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with 9.0% lower depressive and 4.5% lower anxiety symptoms in middle-aged adults.
Cohort (n=4,490)
Does reallocating time from sedentary behavior to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity improve depressive and anxiety symptoms in middle-aged adults?
Reallocating time from sedentary behavior to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with significantly lower depressive and anxiety symptoms in middle-aged adults.
Effect estimate: 9.0% lower depressive, 4.5% lower anxiety symptoms (95% CI 6.3-11.6% (depressive), 2.1-6.9% (anxiety))
Background Physical activity could reduce the risk of depression and anxiety. A 24‐h day includes time spent sleeping, in sedentary behavior (SB), or engaging in physical activities. However, the joint and combined associations of these 24‐h movement behaviors with depressive and anxiety symptoms remain unclear. Aim To investigate the compositional associations of 24‐h movement behaviors with depressive and anxiety symptoms in a population‐based sample of middle‐aged adults. Methods The study population ( N = 4490) comprised of participants from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966). Over 14 consecutive days, movement behaviors—SB, light physical activity (LPA), and moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA)—were recorded using a hip‐worn accelerometer and were combined with self‐reported sleep duration to obtain the 24‐h time‐use composition. Three different screening tools—Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II), Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7), and Hopkins Symptom Checklist‐25 (HSCL‐25)—were utilized to assess the severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Compositional linear regression and time reallocation analysis were performed to examine the associations of 24‐h movement behaviors with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results Compositional 24‐h movement behaviors were significantly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Higher MVPA relative to other components of 24‐h movement behaviors was associated with significantly lower depressive and anxiety symptoms. A 30‐min reallocation of time from SB to MVPA was associated with 9.0% (95% confidence interval CI: 6.3%, 11.6%) lower depressive symptoms and 4.5% (95% CI: 2.1%, 6.9%) lower anxiety symptoms assessed with BDI‐II and GAD‐7 tools, respectively. Similar patterns of associations were observed in the time reallocation analysis when depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed with the HSCL‐25 screening tool. Conclusion Each component of 24‐h movement behaviors was associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Among the component parts of 24‐h movement behaviors, MVPA was most strongly associated with lower depressive and anxiety symptoms, whereas LPA only showed marginal favorable benefits.
Tan et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Depressive and anxiety symptoms (n=4,490). Time reallocation from sedentary behavior to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity vs. Sedentary behavior was evaluated on Severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms (BDI-II, GAD-7, HSCL-25) (9.0% lower depressive, 4.5% lower anxiety symptoms, 95% CI 6.3-11.6% (depressive), 2.1-6.9% (anxiety)). Reallocating 30 minutes from sedentary behavior to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with 9.0% lower depressive and 4.5% lower anxiety symptoms in middle-aged adults.