Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jun 25;9(6):e100914.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100914. eCollection 2014.

Associations of physical activity, screen time with depression, anxiety and sleep quality among Chinese college freshmen

Qi Feng  1 , Qing-le Zhang  1 , Yue Du  1 , Yong-ling Ye  1 , Qi-qiang He  2
Affiliations

Associations of physical activity, screen time with depression, anxiety and sleep quality among Chinese college freshmen

Qi Feng et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the independent and interactive associations of physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) with depression, anxiety and sleep quality among Chinese college students.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Wuhan University, China from November to December 2011. The students reported their PA, ST and socio-economic characteristics using self-administered questionnaires. Sleep quality was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), respectively. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the independent and interactive relationships of PA and ST with depression, anxiety and sleep quality.

Results: A total of 1106 freshmen (471 females and 635 males) aged 18.9±0.9 years were included in the study. After adjustment for potential confounders, high PA and low ST were independently associated with significantly lower risks for poor sleep quality (OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.30-0.78) and depression (OR: 0.67, 95%CI: 0.44-0.89), respectively. An interactive inverse association was observed for combined effects of PA and low ST on depression (OR: 0.62, 95%CI: 0.40-0.92) and sleep quality (OR: 0.51, 95%CI: 0.27-0.91). No statistically significant associations were found between PA, ST and anxiety among the participants.

Conclusions: These findings suggest an independent and interactive relationship of high PA and low ST with significantly reduced prevalence of depressive problems and favorable sleep quality among Chinese college freshmen.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Zivin K, Eisenberg D, Gollust SE, Golberstein E (2009) Persistence of mental health problems and needs in a college student population. J Affect Disord 117: 180–185. - PubMed
    1. Bayram N, Bilgel N (2008) The prevalence and socio-demographic correlations of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of university students. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 43: 667–672. - PubMed
    1. Velez JC, Souza A, Traslavina S, Barbosa C, Wosu A, et al. (2013) The Epidemiology of Sleep Quality and Consumption of Stimulant Beverages among Patagonian Chilean College Students. Sleep Disord 2013: 910104. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lemma S, Patel SV, Tarekegn YA, Tadesse MG, Berhane Y, et al. (2012) The Epidemiology of Sleep Quality, Sleep Patterns, Consumption of Caffeinated Beverages, and Khat Use among Ethiopian College Students. Sleep Disord 2012: 583510. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Oginska H, Pokorski J (2006) Fatigue and mood correlates of sleep length in three age-social groups: School children, students, and employees. Chronobiol Int 23: 1317–1328. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms