Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Physical activity patterns and risk of depression in young adulthood: a 20-year cohort study since childhood

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Little is known about how physical activity patterns during childhood and adolescence are associated with risk of subsequent depression. We examined prospective and retrospective associations between leisure physical activity patterns from childhood to adulthood and risk of clinical depression in young adulthood.

Methods

Participants (759 males, 871 females) in a national survey, aged 9–15 years, were re-interviewed approximately 20 years later. Leisure physical activity was self-reported at baseline (1985) and follow-up (2004–2006). To bridge the interval between the two time-points, historical leisure activity from age 15 years to adulthood was self-reported retrospectively at follow-up. Physical activity was categorized into groups that, from a public health perspective, compared patterns that were least beneficial (persistently inactive) with those increasingly beneficial (decreasing, increasing and persistently active). Depression (major depressive or dysthymic disorder) was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

Results

Compared with those persistently inactive, males who were increasingly and persistently active had a 69 and 65 % reduced risk of depression in adulthood, respectively (all p < 0.05). In retrospective analyses, females who were persistently active had a 51 % reduced risk of depression in adulthood (p = 0.01). Similar but non-significant trends were observed for leisure physical activity in females and historical leisure activity in males. Results excluded those with childhood onset of depression and were adjusted for various sociodemographic and health covariates.

Conclusions

Findings from both prospective and retrospective analyses indicate a beneficial effect of habitual discretionary physical activity since childhood on risk of depression in young adulthood.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Newman D, Moffitt T, Caspi A, Magdol L, Silva P, Stanton W (1996) Psychiatric disorder in a birth cohort of young adults: prevalence, comorbidity, clinical significance, and new case incidence from ages 11 to 21. J Consult Clin Psychol 64:552–562

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Olds T, Wake M, Patton G, Ridley K, Waters E, Williams J, Hesketh K (2009) How do school-day activity patterns differ with age and gender across adolescence? J Adolesc Health 44:64–72

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Strong WB, Malina RM, Blimkie CJ, Daniels SR, Dishman RK, Gutin B, Hergenroeder AC, Must A, Nixon PA, Pivarnik JM, Rowland T, Trost S, Trudeau F (2005) Evidence based physical activity for school-age youth. J Pediatr 146:732–737

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Teychenne M, Ball K, Salmon J (2008) Physical activity and likelihood of depression in adults: a review. Prev Med 46:397–411

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Rimer J, Dwan K, Lawlor DA, Greig CA, McMurdo M, Morley W, Mead GE (2012) Exercise for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 7. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004366.pub5

  6. Larun L, Nordheim L, Ekeland E, Hagen K, Heian F (2006) Exercise in prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression among children and young people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev (Online) 3:CD004691

    Google Scholar 

  7. Birkeland M, Torsheim T, Wold B (2009) A longitudinal study of the relationship between leisure-time physical activity and depressed mood among adolescents. Psychol Sport Exerc 10:25–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ströhle A, Höfler M, Pfister H, Müller A, Hoyer J, Wittchen H, Lieb R (2007) Physical activity and prevalence and incidence of mental disorders in adolescents and young adults. Psychol Med 37:1657–1666

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Sacker A, Cable N (2006) Do adolescent leisure-time physical activities foster health and well-being in adulthood? Evidence from two British birth cohorts. Eur J Pub Health 16:331–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Brunet J, Sabiston CM, Chaiton M, Barnett TA, O’Loughlin E, Low NC, O’Loughlin JL (2013) The association between past and current physical activity and depressive symptoms in young adults: a 10-year prospective study. Ann Epidemiol 23:25–30

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Sagatun A, Søgaard A, Bjertness E, Selmer R, Heyerdahl S (2007) The association between weekly hours of physical activity and mental health: a three-year follow-up study of 15-16-year-old students in the city of Oslo, Norway. BMC Public Health 7. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-1187-1155

  12. Jerstad S, Boutelle K, Ness K, Stice E (2010) Prospective reciprocal relations between physical activity and depression in female adolescents. J Consult Clin Psychol 78:268–272

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Rees D, Sabia J (2010) Exercise and adolescent mental health: new evidence from longitudinal data. J Mental Health Policy Econ 13:13–25

    Google Scholar 

  14. Motl R, Birnbaum A, Kubik M, Dishman R (2004) Naturally occurring changes in physical activity are inversely related to depressive symptoms during early adolescence. Psychosom Med 66:336–342

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Sund A, Larsson B, Wichstrøm L (2011) Role of physical and sedentary activities in the development of depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Soc Psych Psych Epid 46:431–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Rothon C, Edwards P, Bhui K, Viner R, Taylor S, Stansfeld S (2010) Physical activity and depressive symptoms in adolescents: a prospective study. BMC Med 8. doi:10.1186/1741-7015-1188-1132

  17. McKercher C, Schmidt M, Sanderson K, Dwyer T, Venn A (2012) Physical activity and depressed mood in primary and secondary school-children. Mental Health Phys Act 5:50–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. McKercher C, Schmidt M, Sanderson K, Patton G, Dwyer T, Venn A (2009) Physical activity and depression in young adults. Am J Prev Med 36:161–164

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Coonan W, Dwyer T (1983) Recommended guidelines and protocols for the establishment of a national fitness, health and physical performance survey in Australian schools. Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER), Adelaide

    Google Scholar 

  20. Trost S (2005) Discussion paper for the development of recommendations for children’s and youths’ participation in health promoting physical activity. Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  21. McDowell I, Praught E (1982) On the measurement of happiness: an examination of the Bradburn Scale in the Canada Health Survey. Am J Epidemiol 116:949–958

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Koopmans G, Lamers L (2005) Assessing the construct validity of three indicators of psychological distress in relation to perceived health and physical illness. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:1012–1018

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. McDowell I (2010) Measures of self-perceived well-being. J Psychosom Res 69:69–79

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2001) Census of population and housing: socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA). ABS, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  25. International Physical Activity Questionnaire (2013). http://www.ipaq.ki.se/ipaq.htm. Accessed 6 Feb 2013

  26. Craig C, Marshall A, Sjöström M, Bauman A, Booth M, Ainsworth B, Pratt M, Ekelund U, Yngve A, Sallis J, Oja P (2003) International Physical Activity Questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35:1381–1395

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Kriska A, Sandler R, Cauley J, LaPorte R, Hom D, Pambianco G (1988) The assessment of historical physical activity and its relation to adult bone parameters. Am J Epidemiol 127:1053–1063

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. The Australian Sports Commission (2003) Participation in exercise, recreation and sport: annual report 2003. Australian Sports Commission, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  29. Jose K, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, McKercher C, Venn A (2011) Childhood and adolescent predictors of leisure time physical activity during the transition from adolescence to adulthood: a population based cohort study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 8. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-1188-1154

  30. Rangul V, Holmen T, Kurtze N, Cuypers K, Midthjell K (2008) Reliability and validity of two frequently used self-administered physical activity questionnaires in adolescents. BMC Med Res Methodol 8:47

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Sallis JF, Patterson TL, Buono MJ, Nader PR (1988) Relation of cardiovascular fitness and physical activity to cardiovascular disease risk factors in children and adults. Am J Epidemiol 127:933–941

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Bowles HR, FitzGerald SJ, Morrow JR Jr, Jackson AW, Blair SN (2004) Construct validity of self-reported historical physical activity. Am J Epidemiol 160:279–286

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Chasan-Taber L, Erickson J, McBride J, Nasca P, Chasan-Taber S, Freedson P (2002) Reproducibility of a self-administered lifetime physical activity questionnaire among female college alumnae. Am J Epidemiol 155:282–289

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Withers R, Davies G, Crouch R (1977) A comparison of three W170 protocols. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 37:123–128

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Durnin JV, Womersley J (1974) Body fat assessed from total body density and its estimation from skinfold thickness: measurements on 481 men and women aged from 16 to 72 years. Brit J Nutr 32:77–97

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. World Health Organization (1997) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Version 2.1. WHO, Geneva

  37. Andrews G, Peters L (1998) The psychometric properties of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epid 33:80–88

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th edn) (DSM-IV). APA, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  39. Ware J, Kosinski M, Keller S (1996) A 12-item short-form health survey: construction of scales and preliminary tests of reliability and validity. Med Care 34:220–233

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (1998) Clinical guidelines for the identification, evaluation and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: the evidence report. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda

    Google Scholar 

  41. Yang X, Telama R, Viikari J, Raitakari O (2006) Risk of obesity in relation to physical activity tracking from youth to adulthood. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38:919–925

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Juonala M, Magnussen C, Berenson G, Venn A, Burns T, Sabin M, Srinivasan S, Daniels S, Davis P, Chen W, Sun C, Cheung M, Viikari J, Dwyer T, Raitakari O (2011) Childhood adiposity, adult adiposity, and cardiovascular risk factors. New Engl J Med 365:1876–1885

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Sternfeld B, Sidney S, Jacobs DR Jr, Sadler MC, Haskell WL, Schreiner PJ (1999) Seven-year changes in physical fitness, physical activity, and lipid profile in the CARDIA study. Ann Epidemiol 9:25–33

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Blizzard L, Hosmer W (2006) Parameter estimation and goodness-of-fit in log binomial regression. Biometr J 48:5–22

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Hosmer D, Lemeshow S (2000) Applied logistic regression, 2nd edn. Wiley, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  46. Sanderson K, Patton G, McKercher C, Dwyer T, Venn A (2011) Overweight and obesity in childhood and risk of mental disorder: a 20-year cohort study. Aust NZ J Psychiat 45:384–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Da Costa D, Rippen N, Dritsa M, Ring A (2003) Self-reported leisure-time physical activity during pregnancy and relationship to psychological well-being. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol 24:111–119

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Paffenbarger R, Lee I, Leung R (1994) Physical activity and personal characteristics associated with depression and suicide in American college men. Acta Psychiatr Scand Suppl 89:16–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Paluska S, Schwenk T (2000) Physical activity and mental health: current concepts. Sports Med 29:167–180

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Bothe N, Zschucke E, Dimeo F, Heinz A, Wüstenberg T, Ströhle A (2013) Acute exercise influences reward processing in highly trained and untrained men. Med Sci Sports Exerc 45:583–591

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Boecker H, Sprenger T, Spilker ME, Henriksen G, Koppenhoefer M, Wagner KJ, Valet M, Berthele A, Tolle TR (2008) The runner’s high: opioidergic mechanisms in the human brain. Cereb Cortex 18:2523–2531

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Russo-Neustadt A, Beard R, Huang Y, Cotman C (2000) Physical activity and antidepressant treatment potentiate the expression of specific brain-derived neurotrophic factor transcripts in the rat hippocampus. Neuroscience 101:305–312

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Rethorst CD, Landers DM, Nagoshi CT, Ross JT (2010) Efficacy of exercise in reducing depressive symptoms across 5-HTTLPR genotypes. Med Sci Sports Exerc 42:2141–2147

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. De Moor MH, Boomsma DI, Stubbe JH, Willemsen G, de Geus EJ (2008) Testing causality in the association between regular exercise and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Arch Gen Psychiat 65:897–905

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Kirkcaldy B, Shephard R, Siefen R (2002) The relationship between physical activity and self-image and problem behaviour among adolescents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 37:544–550

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Fletcher A, Nickerson P, Wright K (2003) Structured leisure activities in middle childhood: links to well-being. J Community Psychol 31:641–659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Sabiston C, O’Loughlin E, Brunet J, Chaiton M, Low N, Barnett T, O’Loughlin J (2013) Linking depression symptom trajectories in adolescence to physical activity and team sports participation in young adults. Prev Med 56:95–98

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Erdman H, Klein M, Greist J (1985) Direct patient computer interviewing. J Consult Clin Psychol 53:760–773

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Josefsson T, Lindwall M, Archer T (2013) Physical exercise intervention in depressive disorders: meta-analysis and systematic review. Scand J Med Sci Sports. doi:10.1111/sms.12050

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Birmaher B, Ryan N, Williamson D, Brent D, Kaufman J, Dahl R, Perel J, Nelson B (1996) Childhood and adolescent depression: a review of the past 10 years. Part I. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 35:1427–1439

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (211316); the National Heart Foundation (GOOH 0578); the Tasmanian Community Fund (D0013808); and Veolia Environmental Services. KS was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT0991524). The authors gratefully acknowledge the study sponsors (Sanitarium, ASICS, and Target), the contributions of the study’s project manager, Ms Marita Dalton, all other project staff, volunteers, and study participants. Associate Professor Leigh Blizzard provided valuable statistical advice.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, Private Bag 23, Hobart, 7000, Australia

    Charlotte McKercher, Kristy Sanderson, Michael D. Schmidt, Petr Otahal & Alison J. Venn

  2. Department of Kinesiology, The University of Georgia, 115 Ramsey, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Michael D. Schmidt

  3. Department of Paediatrics, Royal Children’s Hospital, University of Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052, Australia

    George C. Patton

  4. Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, 3052, Australia

    George C. Patton & Terence Dwyer

Authors
  1. Charlotte McKercher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kristy Sanderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael D. Schmidt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Petr Otahal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. George C. Patton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Terence Dwyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alison J. Venn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotte McKercher.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McKercher, C., Sanderson, K., Schmidt, M.D. et al. Physical activity patterns and risk of depression in young adulthood: a 20-year cohort study since childhood. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 49, 1823–1834 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0863-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0863-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation