The relationship between physical activity and mental health in a sample of the UK public: A cross-sectional study during the implementation of COVID-19 social distancing measures

Louis Jacob; Mark A Tully; Yvonne Barnett; Guillermo F Lopez-Sanchez; Laurie Butler; Felipe Schuch; Rubén López-Bueno; Daragh McDermott; Joseph Firth; Igor Grabovac; Anita Yakkundi; Nicola Armstrong; Timothy Young; Lee Smith

doi:10.1016/j.mhpa.2020.100345

The relationship between physical activity and mental health in a sample of the UK public: A cross-sectional study during the implementation of COVID-19 social distancing measures

Ment Health Phys Act. 2020 Oct:19:100345. doi: 10.1016/j.mhpa.2020.100345. Epub 2020 Jul 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Dr Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, 08830, Spain.
² Institute of Mental Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Ulster University, Newtownabbey, UK.
³ Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
⁴ Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Murcia, Spain.
⁵ Faculty of Science and Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ Department of Sports Methods and Techniques, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil.
⁷ Department of Physical Medicine and Nursing, University of Zaragoza, Spain.
⁸ School of Psychology and Sport Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
⁹ Division of Psychology and Mental Health, The University of Manchester, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
¹¹ Northern Ireland Public Health Research Network, School of Health Sciences, Ulster University, Newtownabbey, UK.
¹² HSC R&D Division, Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), Belfast, UK.
¹³ Medical Research Council, Cancer Unit, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁴ The Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the cross-sectional association between physical activity levels with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and positive mental well-being in a sample of the UK public social distancing owing to COVID-19.

Method: This paper presents pre-planned interim analyses of data from a cross-sectional epidemiological study. Levels of physical activity during COVID-I9 social distancing were self-reported. Mental health was measured using the Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventory. Mental wellbeing was measured using The Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Participants also reported on sociodemographic and clinical data. The association between physical activity and mental health was studied using regression models.

Results: 902 adults were included in this study (63.8% of women and 50.1% of people aged 35-64 years). After adjusting for covariates, there was a negative association between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day in hours and poor mental health (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.80-0.97). Similar findings were obtained for moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms, moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms and poor mental wellbeing.

Conclusions: In the present sample of UK adults social distancing owing to COVID-19 those who were physically active have better overall mental health. Owing, to the cross-sectional design of the present study the direction of the association cannot be inferred.

Keywords: COVID-19; Mental health; Physical activity; SARS-COV-2; Social distancing.