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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1542340
This article is part of the Research Topic Towards a Psychophysiological Approach in Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sports-Volume IV View all 13 articles
Sedentary behavior and physical activity are associated with risk of depression among adult and older populations: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted- 1 Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- 2 Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- 3 Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
Background: Depression symptoms are commonly experienced by adults and older people; however, there is uncertainty concerning the associations of lifestyle with the risk of depression. This study systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed observational data to assess the link between instrumented sedentary behavior (i-SB) and physical activity (i-PA) measures and depression risk among adult and older populations.Methods: A systematic review across four databases was performed up to July 27, 2024, targeting studies linking i-SB, i-PA, and depression. The review included a doseresponse meta-analysis, presenting results as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: Fifty-one studies, encompassing 1,318,687 participants, fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The comparison between the most and least sedentary groups yielded a pooled OR of 1.09 (95% CI 1.05-1.13). The comparison between the least and most active participant groups yielded pooled ORs of 0.96 (95% CI 0.93-0.98) for light activity (LPA), 0.91 (95% CI 0.86-0.96) for moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA), 0.93 (95% CI 0.90-0.96) for total physical activity (TPA), and 0.87 (95% CI 0.81-0.94) for steps per day. After adjusting i-PA, a lower OR for i-SB did not indicate a significant link to increased depression risk. Meta-regression analyses confirmed a dose-response relationship between SB, MVPA, daily steps, and depression.The association between i-SB and the risk of depression was not consistent with the results of previous self-reported studies. MVPA linked to the risk of depression was independent of i-SB, whereas the link between i-SB and the risk of depression was not independent of i-PA.
Keywords: sedentary behavior, physical activity, accelerometry, Depression, adults, older populations
Received: 09 Dec 2024; Accepted: 04 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, zhang, Guo and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Songtao Lu, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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