Frequent Sports Dance May Serve as a Protective Factor for Depression Among College Students: A Real-World Data Analysis in China

Lirong Zhang; Shaocong Zhao; Wei Weng; Qiong Lin; Minmin Song; Shouren Wu; Hua Zheng

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S299891

Frequent Sports Dance May Serve as a Protective Factor for Depression Among College Students: A Real-World Data Analysis in China

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2021 Apr 9:14:405-422. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S299891. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Lirong Zhang¹, Shaocong Zhao¹, Wei Weng¹, Qiong Lin², Minmin Song³, Shouren Wu², Hua Zheng⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, 361024, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Physical Education, JiMei University, Xiamen, Fujian, 361021, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Physical Education, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350008, People's Republic of China.
⁴ College of Physical Education and Health Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, 400047, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the role of frequent sports dance in preventing mental disorders, including anxiety and depression, among college students using real-world data, and to further analyze potential risk factors associated with anxiety and depression.

Methods: We investigated 921 college students from eight universities in China. A survey was completed by 901 students and they were included in the analysis. The anxiety score was evaluated by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale and the depression score was evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Subgroup comparisons were performed among frequent sports dance students and non-frequent sports dance students.

Results: Of all the students, 9.98% had moderate-to-severe anxiety and 14.65% students suffered from moderate-to-severe depression. Compared with non-frequent sports dance students, frequent sports dance students had significantly lower depression scores (P=0.04). According to the multiple logistic regression models, when potential confounding factors were all adjusted, frequent sports dance was also significantly associated with less depression (OR=0.55, 95% CI: 0.36-0.84, P<0.01). We also found that higher college grade levels (P<0.01), non-physical education students (P=0.02), higher body mass index (P=0.02), lower exercise frequency per week (P<0.01), addiction to drinking (P=0.02), and previous diagnosis of anxiety or depression in hospital (P<0.01) were significantly associated with more anxiety; higher college grade levels (P<0.01), addiction to drinking (P<0.01), preference for eating fried food (P=0.02), soda as the main source of drinking water (P=0.01), and previous diagnosis of anxiety or depression (P=0.03) were significantly associated with more depression, while higher exercise frequency per week (P<0.01), only-child status (P<0.01), and preference for eating vegetables (P=0.02) were significantly associated with less depression.

Conclusion: Anxiety and depression are common among college students. Frequent sports dance may serve as a protective factor for preventing depression and it can be recommended for college students.

Keywords: anxiety; college student; depression; risk factor; sports dance.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Fujian young teacher education research project (no. JAS170328).