Associations of Physical Activity, Screen Time with Depression, Anxiety and Sleep Quality among Chinese College Freshmen

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.