Purpose
This study aimed to investigate cross-sectional associations between physical activity, sleep health, and depression symptoms using mediation models.
Methods
Participants (
N
= 1576,
M
Age
= 39.3 years, 40% female) were recruited online from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowd-sourcing service. Physical activity was measured using a single-item self-report measure and depression symptoms were reported using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Sleep health was measured using the 6-question RUSATED Sleep Health survey V2.0.
Results
Good sleep health (direct effect:
β
= − .273,
t
= − 13.87,
p
< .0001) and high levels of physical activity (direct effect:
β
= − .092,
t
= − 4.73,
p
< .0001) were both individually associated with fewer depression symptoms. Sleep health significantly mediated 19% of the association between physical activity and depression symptoms (indirect effect:
β
= − .022, 95% CI [− .036 to − .008]), while physical activity significantly mediated 3% of the relationship between sleep health and depression symptoms (indirect effect:
β
= − .008, 95% CI [− .014 to − .003]).
Conclusion
Physical activity and sleep health act as predictors and mediators of depression symptoms.