1. The role of anxiety and depression in the relationship between physical activity and sleep quality: A serial multiple mediation model
- Author
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Xueli Li, Huirong Zheng, Cai-Lan Hou, Shibin Wang, Fu-Jun Jia, Yingying Su, Zhuo-Hui Huang, and Wen-Yan Tan
- Subjects
Adult ,Sleep Wake Disorders ,China ,Mediation (statistics) ,Population ,Anxiety ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,Association (psychology) ,education ,Exercise ,Depression (differential diagnoses) ,Response rate (survey) ,education.field_of_study ,Depression ,business.industry ,Anxiety Disorders ,Sleep in non-human animals ,030227 psychiatry ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Clinical Psychology ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Causal inference ,medicine.symptom ,Sleep ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Clinical psychology - Abstract
Background Physical inactivity exacerbates poorer sleep quality, but potential underlying mechanisms of this association remain unknown. The present study aims to disentangle the pathways linking psychical activity to sleep quality through the serial mediation effect of anxiety and depression in a Chinese population. Methods Data analyzed were from Guangdong Sleep and Psychosomatic Health Survey, a cross-sectional population-based study with a representative sample of adult inhabitants aged 18-85 years living in Guangdong province, China. A total of 13,768 participants were included with the response rate of 80.4%. Singe and serial mediation analyses were conducted to examine whether anxiety and depression mediated the relationship between physical activity and sleep quality, independently and jointly. Results Both direct and indirect effects of physical activity on sleep quality were found. As predicted, anxiety and depression mediated the relationship between physical activity and sleep quality (B Anxiety = -0.17, 95% bootstrap CI: -0.20 to -0.15; B Depression= -0.25, 95% bootstrap CI: -0.28 to -0.21), respectively. In addition, serial mediation analyses indicated that the association of physical activity and sleep quality is mediated by anxiety and depression in a sequential manner (B = -0.13, 95% bootstrap CI: -0.15 to -0.11). Limitations The primary limitation of the study is the cross-sectional design, which limits the causal inference ability. Conclusions These findings highlight the role of anxiety and depression as serial mediators of the relationship between physical activity and sleep quality. Thus, exercise-based programs focusing on improving sleep could benefit from a multi-faceted approach therapeutically targeting psychiatric disorders.
- Published
- 2021