Relationships between Sleep, Sedentary Behavior, and Physical Activity in Young Adults

Abstract

PurposeWhile there are some studies on sleep and physical activity, little is known regarding the associations between sleep and sedentary behavior. This study investigated the associations between sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity among young adults. MethodsCross-sectional data from 124 undergraduate students were included in the analysis (age=21±1 years). Both accelerometer-based and self-report assessments of sleep were included; physical activity and sedentary behavior were assessed by accelerometers. Participants were asked to fill out sleep questionnaires and wear accelerometers for 7 days. Pearson correlations, partial correlations, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analyses were performed to investigate the relationships between sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity. ResultsAfter adjusting for age, gender, percent body fat, educational level, and monthly allowance, prolonged sedentary time was correlated with a shorter sleep onset latency (r=-0.19, p=0.04), shorter time in bed (r=-0.43, p<0.001), and shorter sleep duration (r=-0.38, p<0.001). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was positively correlated with sleep onset latency (r=0.43, p<0.001). Sedentary behavior and MVPA were not correlated with sleep quality or daytime sleepiness. After further categorizing sleep duration into three subgroups, individuals with ≤6 hours (p<0.001) of sleep spent more time being sedentary than did those with 6-7 hours (p<0.001) and ≥7 hours (p=0.007) of sleep. Individuals with 6-7 hours of sleep had a higher level of MVPA than did those with ≥7 hours of sleep. ConclusionImproving the duration of sleep may be a viable approach to help reduce sedentary behavior among young adults. Future studies with longitudinal designs are needed to further investigate the directionality of these associations and their potential mediators and moderators.

Physical Activity, Sleep Quality and Daytime Sleepiness Among Ipoh Young Adults

“…Physical activity has been associated with quality of sleep that reduces daytime sleepiness. In a study conducted by Hsu et al (2019), the findings revealed that high school students who engaged in physical activity for more than 3.5 hours per week had improved sleep quality. Additionally, Ströhle (2008) suggests that getting at least 60 minutes of daily physical activity is associated with adequate quality sleep.…”

Sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity in Brazilian adolescents: Achievement recommendations and BMI associations through compositional data analysis

“…They have been influenced by various interdependent factors regarding the time-lapse over a day. Therefore, they are modifiable [ 3 ] throughout the different life phases. The term habitual human behaviors (HHB) was adopted due to possible concepts counterpoints, considering the definition of sleep as a behavioral, reversible, and cyclic state characterized by relative immobility and increased threshold of responses to external stimuli [ 4 , 5 ].…”

Relationships between College Students’ Sedentary Behavior, Sleep Quality, and Body Mass Index

“…In addition, a recent randomized controlled trial examined the effects of SB on sleep quality by randomly assigning active young adults into a SB intervention (increasing sedentary behavior intentionally) or a control group for one week, and found that young adults who increased their time in SB experienced significant decreases in sleep quality [16]. In addition, compiling research has indicated significant associations between SB, sleep quality, and obesity [22][23][24][25]. One recent study evaluated college students' sleep quality and body fat mass, and found that poor sleep efficiency was strongly associated with increased fat mass in both men and women [23].…”