133. Exploring the Link Between Sedentary Behavior and Mental Health Outcomes in British Columbia Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.01.050Get rights and content

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Purpose

Studies before the pandemic estimated that only 8% of Canadian adolescents met the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for limiting non-school related sedentary behavior (SB) and screen time to 2 hours or fewer per day. Studies have shown that increased SB in youth is related to an increase in adverse mental health outcomes (MHO), but evidence of this effect during the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. With the large-scale adoption of online schooling due to COVID-19 in many regions, youth may be

Methods

The study sample was derived from the Youth Development Instrument (YDI), a comprehensive self-reported survey of social and emotional development, health, and well-being of Grade 11 students piloted in participating British Columbia (BC) school districts from February 2021 to June 2021. The YDI questionnaire had a total sample size of 2350; after removing 44 outliers, 2306 participants remained for analysis. Of these, 1045 identified as female, 1152 as male, and 109 in another way or did not

Results

Depression and anxiety were common in this sample. 39.8% of students reported a PHQ8 score ≥10, and 43.2% of participants reported a GAD2 score ≥3. 86% of participants did not meet the recommended guidelines of limiting SB to 2 or fewer hours a day. SB and depressive symptoms had a highly significant association in this population (p<0.001). Students meeting SB guidelines had a mean PHQ8 of 7.4 ± 6.5, compared to a mean PHQ8 of 9.0 ± 6.8 in participants not meeting SB guidelines (p<0.001). The

Conclusions

There is a significant relationship between SB and adverse MHO in a sample of BC youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future analyses will assess for the potential moderating impact of sociodemographic variables. Further research is indicated to measure the size and effect of the role of SB on MHO for youth in a post-pandemic world.

Sources of Support

CHART lab (http://chartlab.ca), Simon Fraser University, British Columbia Center for Disease Control, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences.

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