Child and Parent Physical Activity, Sleep, and Screen Time During COVID-19 and Associations With Mental Health: Implications for Future Psycho-Cardiological Disease?

Lisa S Olive^{1

2

3}, Emma Sciberras^{1

4}, Tomer S Berkowitz¹, Erin Hoare², Rohan M Telford⁵, Adrienne O'Neil^{2

6}, Antonina Mikocka-Walus¹, Subhadra Evans¹, Delyse Hutchinson^{1

4

7}, Jane A McGillivray¹, Michael Berk^{2

3

8}, Sam J Teague¹, Amanda G Wood^{1

4

9}, Craig Olsson^{1

4}, Elizabeth M Westrupp^{1

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Canberra, VIC, Australia.
² Faculty of Health, The Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
³ Orygen, Elite Sports and Mental Health, and the Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, VIC, Australia.
⁶ The Food and Mood Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
⁷ The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁹ College of Health & Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹¹ Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

PMID: 35242059
PMCID: PMC8886612
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.774858

Child and Parent Physical Activity, Sleep, and Screen Time During COVID-19 and Associations With Mental Health: Implications for Future Psycho-Cardiological Disease?

Lisa S Olive et al. Front Psychiatry. 2022.

. 2022 Feb 10:12:774858.

doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.774858. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Canberra, VIC, Australia.
² Faculty of Health, The Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT), Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
³ Orygen, Elite Sports and Mental Health, and the Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, VIC, Australia.
⁶ The Food and Mood Centre, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
⁷ The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁹ College of Health & Life Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
¹¹ Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

PMID: 35242059
PMCID: PMC8886612
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.774858

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has afforded the opportunity for some to improve lifestyle behaviours, while for others it has presented key challenges. Adverse changes in global lifestyle behaviours, including physical activity, sleep, and screen time can affect proximal mental health and in turn distal cardiovascular outcomes. We investigated differences in physical activity, sleep, and screen time in parents and children during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia compared to pre-COVID-19 national data; and estimated associations between these movement behaviours with parent and child mental health. Cross-sectional baseline data from the COVID-19 Pandemic Adjustment Study (CPAS; N = 2,365) were compared to nationally representative pre-pandemic data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 9,438). Participants were parents of children aged ≤ 18 years, residing in Australia. Parents provided self-report measures of mental health, physical activity and sleep quality, and reported on child mental health, physical activity and screen time. Children in CPAS had significantly more sleep problems and more weekend screen time. Their parents had significantly poorer sleep quality, despite increased weekly physical activity. Children's sleep problems were significantly associated with increased mental health problems, after accounting for socioeconomic status, physical activity, and screen time. Poorer parent sleep quality and lower levels of physical activity were significantly associated with poorer mental health. Monitoring this cohort over time will be important to examine whether changes in movement behaviour are enduring or naturally improve with the easing of restrictions; and whether these changes have lasting effects on either parent or child mental health, and in turn, future risk for CVD.

Keywords: adults; anxiety; children; depression; physical activity; psychiatry; screen time; sleep.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

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1. Department of Health. Australia's Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines and the Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines [WWW Document]. Aust. Gov. Dep. Heal (2019). Available online at: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-p....
1. World Health Organization . Guidelines on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep for Children Under 5 Years of Age. (2019). [WWW Document]. World Heal. Organ. - PubMed
1. Huang RC, Burke V, Newnham JP, Stanley FJ, Kendall GE, Landau LI, et al. . Perinatal and childhood origins of cardiovascular disease. Int J Obes. (2007) 31:236–44. 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803394 - DOI - PubMed

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Child and Parent Physical Activity, Sleep, and Screen Time During COVID-19 and Associations With Mental Health: Implications for Future Psycho-Cardiological Disease?

Affiliations

Child and Parent Physical Activity, Sleep, and Screen Time During COVID-19 and Associations With Mental Health: Implications for Future Psycho-Cardiological Disease?

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources