Primary studies investigating sedentary behaviour and mental health in young people
| Study | Sample characteristics | Design/method | Sedentary behaviour exposure variables | Mental health outcome variables | Results | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murdey et al37 | N= 119 UK youth. | Cross-sectional phase of longitudinal study. | Free-time sedentary behaviour assessed by momentary time sampling paper diary. | Body image (body attractiveness subscale of Physical Self-Perception Profile for Children; PSPP-C) | Small negative association only for girls between sedentary behaviour and body image: r=-0.23, p=0.05 | PA not accounted for in analyses. |
| 64 boys and 55 girls across three school year cohorts: Year 6 (10.0–10.9 years); Year 8 (12.0–12.9 years); Year 10 (14.0–14.9 years). | Only study to assess and aggregate multiple sedentary behaviours. | |||||
| Mathers et al38 | N= 925 Australian adolescents (mean age = 16.1 years) | Cross-sectional data from the third (2005) wave of the longitudinal Health of Young Victorians Study. | Electronic media use (EMU) assessed with MARCA – Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents, a computerised time-use diary. | Health-related quality of life (HRQoL; KIDSCREEN); health status (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0; PedsQL); depression/anxiety (Kessler-10); behaviour problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire - SDQ). | Higher EMU associated with poorer HRQoL and more behaviour problems. | PA not accounted for in analyses. |
| High video game use associated with worse HRQoL. | ||||||
| Iannotti, Janssen, et al39 | N= 49 124 Young people aged 11, 13 and 15 years from countries participating in the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC). 10 countries selected to represent 5 regions: North America, North Europe, South Europe, West Europe, East Europe. | Cross-sectional self-report survey of health behaviours, including physical activity and screen time. | Screen-based media sedentary behaviour (SBM) in h/day. | Physical Self-Image: Perception (of body size); Life Satisfaction; Quality of Family Relationships; Quality of Peer Relationships. | Higher levels of SBM associated with poorer self-image. More frequent SBM associated with poorer Life Satisfaction in four regions and poorer perceived health status and family relationships in three regions. | PA accounted for as a confounder. |
| Iannotti, Kogan, et al40 | N=22 084 American and Canadian youth aged ∼11–15 years as part of Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study. | Cross-sectional self-report survey of health behaviours, including physical activity and screen time. | Screen-based media sedentary behaviour (SBM) in h/day. | Physical Self-Image: Perception (of body size); Life Satisfaction; Quality of Family Relationships; Quality of Peer Relationships. | More frequent SBM associated with poorer Life Satisfaction and family relationships. Poorer self-image only significant for Canadian youth. Higher SBM associated with higher ratings of peer relationships. | PA accounted for as a confounder. May include some participants from Iannotti, Janssen et al (2009). Not possible to tell. |
| Hamer et al41 | N=1486 Scottish children aged 4–12 years (mean age=8.5 years) | Cross sectional assessment of psychological well-being, sedentary behaviour and physical activity | Parent reported TV and screen entertainment (TVSE). | Psychological well-being (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) | Higher SDQ scores associated with greater TVSE time independently of PA and after controlling for confounders. | PA accounted for as a confounder. |
| TVSE and PA interact to be associated with higher levels of psychological distress. | Parental proxy reports likely to have poor validity. | |||||
| Russ et al42 | N=54 863 American youth aged 6–17 years. | Cross-sectional assessment of media use and parent reported child psycho-social well-being | Parent reported media use (TV, computers, screen time) | Parent reported social-emotional problems of the child, concerns about child's self-esteem, and social competence | Significant association between TV viewing and psycho-social well-being: Each additional hour of TV increased concerns about social/emotional health by 8%; for self-esteem concerns by 8%; a decrease for social competence by 10%. No effects for computer use or screen time. | Parental proxy reports likely to have poor validity. PA not accounted for in analyses. |
| Holder et al43 | N=514 Canadian children aged ∼9–11 years. | Cross-sectional assessment of screen time and phone used, self-concept and happiness | Self and parent reported sedentary behaviour (TV, computer, computer games, phone) | Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale 2 Happiness/satisfaction (from Piers-Harris) Self-reported happiness using a faces scale | Screen time (but not phone) had small but significant association with both child and parent reported happiness (faces scale) | Markers of PA assessed but not used as covariates. |
| No associations with self-concept. | ||||||
| Primack et al36 | N=4142 American adolescents (Grades 7-12; aged ∼12–17 years at baseline) | Longitudinal cohort study with 7 year follow-up. Analyses included only those not depressed at baseline. | Self-report of ‘last week’ exposure to 4 types of electronic media: TV, video, computer games, radio | Centers for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression Scale (CES-D) | Significantly increased odds of depression at follow up for each additional hour of TV viewing (OR=1.08). No effect for other media. | PA not accounted for in analyses. |
| Page et al44 | N=1013 UK youth (mean age=10.95 years) | Cross sectional assessment of psychological well-being, sedentary behaviour and physical activity | Self-reported daily TV hours and computer use. | Psychological well-being (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) | Children who spent more than 2 h/day watching TV or using a computer were at increased risk of high levels of psychological difficulties. | PA accounted for as a confounder. |
| Total sedentary time also assessed with accelerometer. |