Bidirectional associations between sedentary time and sleep duration among 12- to 14-year-old adolescents

Abstract

Background The aim of this study was to investigate bidirectional associations between (prolonged) sitting time and sleep duration in 12- to 14-year-old adolescents using a between-subjects and within-subjects analyses approach. Methods Observational data were used from 108 adolescents (53% girls; mean age 12.9 (SD 0.7) years) from six schools in Flanders, Belgium. The Axivity AX3 triaxial accelerometer, worn on the thigh, was used to assess daily total sitting time and daily time spent in sedentary bouts of ≥30 min (as a proxy for prolonged sitting time). The Fitbit Charge 3 was used to assess nightly sleep duration. Both monitors were worn on schooldays only (ranging from 4 to 5 days). Linear mixed models were conducted to analyse the associations, resulting in four models. In each model, the independent variable (sleep duration, sitting time or prolonged sitting time) was included as within- as well as between-subjects factor. Results Within-subjects analyses showed that when the adolescents sat more and when the adolescents spent more time sitting in bouts of ≥30 min than they usually did on a given day, they slept less during the following night (p = 0.01 and p = 0.05 (borderline significant), respectively). These associations were not significant in the other direction. Between-subjects analyses showed that adolescents who slept more on average, spent less time sitting (p = 0.006) and less time sitting in bouts of ≥30 min (p = 0.004) compared with adolescents who slept less on average. Conversely, adolescents who spent more time sitting on average and adolescents who spent more time sitting in bouts of ≥30 min on average, slept less (p = 0.02 and p = 0.003, respectively). Conclusions Based on the between-subjects analyses, interventions focusing on reducing or regularly breaking up sitting time could improve adolescents’ sleep duration on a population level, and vice versa. However, the within-subjects association was only found in one direction and suggests that to sleep sufficiently during the night, adolescents might limit and regularly break up their sitting time the preceding day. Trial registration Data have been used from our trial registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04327414; registered on March 11, 2020).

Independent and Combined Associations between Physical Activity and Sedentary Time with Sleep Quality among Chinese College Students

“…Furthermore, fewer studies have revealed that prolonged sedentary time is an emerging influential factor related to poor sleep quality [ 15 ]. Meanwhile, some studies have found that the duration of subsequent nighttime sleep was shorter when daytime sedentary time increased [ 16 ], and interventions that focus on regularly interrupting sedentary time could improve the sleep duration of young people [ 17 ]. However, some studies using accelerometers have reported that the average daily sedentary time ranged from 8.23 to 13.03 h per day [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], while another study found that the sedentary time of college students is increasing [ 23 ].…”