Research Impact: COVID-19 increased sedentary behaviours, decreased physical activity, and worsened mental health. The longitudinal impacts of these changes, however, are relatively unknown. We examined associations between changes in self-reported activity behaviours and mental health among 2,327 adults over 8-weeks following the COVID-19 outbreak. A significant sitting-by-time interaction showed higher marginal effects for depressive symptoms for the 90th-percentile of sitting time than the 10th-percentile, with differences magnifying over time. Screen-time was associated with worse depressive and anxiety symptoms, and screen-time and sitting time were associated with worse positive mental health. Rapid changes in sedentary behaviours, particularly sitting, may have lasting effects on mental health.
Meyer JD, O’Connor J, McDowell CP, Lansing JE, Brower CS, Herring MP. High sitting time is a behavioral risk factor for blunted improvement in depression across 8 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in April-May 2020. Front Psychiatry, 01 October 2021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.741433. (IF: 4.157, Q2 Psychiatry; R=37/144).
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