Citation

Marques A, Peralta M, Gouveia ÉR, Martins J, Sarmento H, Gomez-Baya D. Eur. J. Sport Sci. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Social, Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/17461391.2019.1701716

PMID

31800353

Abstract

Objective: There are few studies evaluating the relationship between depression symptoms (DS) and physical activity (PA) considering peoples' sociodemographic characteristics. This study aimed to analyse the relationship between DS and PA, stratified by sociodemographic characteristics of European adults.Methods: Participants were 29285 adults (13943 men, 47.6%; 15342 women, 52.4%), aged 50.9 ± 17.4 (50.6 ± 17.3 men, 51.1 ± 17.5 women) from the European Social Survey round 7. DS was assessed with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D8). Leisure-time PA (LTPA) was self-reported. The analysed sociodemographic characteristics were sex, age, living place, household members, marital status, income, and educational level. The relationship between DS and PA, stratified by sociodemographic variables, was examined by linear regression models.

RESULTS: Engaging in LTPA was negatively and linearly related to DS, independently of being men or women, being younger, middle or older adult, living in an urban or rural area, having children or not, being single or married, being wealthy or poor, employment status, and to having a lower or a higher education level. Age was the variable with both the least and the greatest effect of LTPA on DS. The least effect of LTPA on DS was observed in younger adults (β=-0.08, 95% CI: -0.11, -0.05) and the greatest effect in retired people (β=-0.33, 95% CI: -0.36, -0.29).Conclusion: Independently of sociodemographic characteristics, LTPA is associated with DS and can benefit everyone. Public health policies for promoting mental health should include PA promotion as an important strategy for the prevention or treatment of DS.

Language: en

Keywords

European Social Survey; adults; exercise; mental health; sociodemographic; sport