Association of meeting 24-h movement guidelines with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and their comorbidity in Chinese young adults.

Background

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Purpose

Depression and anxiety frequently co-occur, yet evidence on how integrated 24-h movement behaviors relate to their comorbidity in young Chinese adults remains limited. This study examined associations of meeting 24-h movement behavior guidelines with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and their comorbidity.

Materials And Methods

This cross-sectional study included 1826 young Chinese adults (mean age 22.14 ± 2.41 years). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior were assessed with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, and sleep duration with one Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index item. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale. Separate binary logistic regression models estimated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

Overall, 20.4% of participants met all three operationalized recommendations. Depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and their comorbidity were present in 34.3%, 23.2%, and 19.3% of participants, respectively. Compared with meeting no recommendations, meeting all three was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms (aOR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.22-0.52), anxiety symptoms (aOR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.25-0.66), and comorbidity (aOR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.18-0.48). Meeting the MVPA and sedentary recommendations without meeting the sleep recommendation was also associated with lower odds of comorbidity (aOR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.32-0.90).

Conclusion

Meeting a greater number of 24-h movement recommendations was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and their comorbidity. The pattern supports an integrated approach that considers sleep duration, physical activity, and sedentary behavior together.