Sedentary behavior and depressive symptoms: influence of specific domains of sedentary behaviour

• Grant number: 23/15629-3
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physical Education
• Principal Investigator: Saulo dos Santos Gil
• Grantee: Saulo dos Santos Gil
• Host Institution: Universidade de Santo Amaro (UNISA). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Brendon Stubbs ; Carolina Nunes França ; Felipe Barreto Schuch ; Lucas Melo Neves

Abstract

Depressive symptoms are commonly observed in the general population. Individuals with subclinical forms of depression (e.g., not meet the criteria to major depression disorder) are at increased risk of mortality than the general population which is partially explained by the higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Currently, the effectiveness of the frontline treatment for depression is not consensual. Further, it also may be expensive for individuals with mild to moderate depression. Sedentary behavior is an independent risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases and mental disorders. However, recent evidence suggests that not all types of sedentary behavior are equally detrimental. For instance, mentally passive sedentary behavior (e.g., watching TV) appear to be detrimental for health outcomes whereas mentally active sedentary behavior (e.g., desk-based office work) appear to offer health benefits. However, more studies are required to determine the magnitude of association between distinct types of sedentary behaviors (e.g., watching TV, listening to music, talking while sitting, sitting around and doing nothing special) with depressive symptoms as well as randomized clinical trials investigating potential benefits of interventions to replace mentally-passive sedentary behaviors with mentally active sedentary behaviors, light physical activity or moderate-to-vigorous activity in individuals with mild to moderate depression. Therefore, the aim of this proposal is to investigate the influence of mentally passive sedentary behavior (i.e., watching TV, listening to music, talking while sitting, sitting around, and doing nothing special) on depressive symptoms. For it, we designed two studies in which the main purpose of each one is: STUDY-1) "To determine the association between different sedentary behavior and depressive symptoms"; STUDY-2) "To investigate the effects of an intervention to replace mentally passive sedentary behaviors with mentally active sedentary behaviors, light physical activity, or moderate-to-vigorous activity in individuals with mild to moderate depression". STUDY 1 consists of cross-sectional study. Participants will undergo a semi-structured interview to record sociodemographic characteristic (i.e., age, sex, marital status, ethnicity, family income), comorbidities, parameters related to lifestyle (i.e., level of physical activity and sedentary behavior), use of tobacco and medication, symptoms of anxiety and depression, quality of life and a battery of tests to examine anthropometry (i.e., weight, height, bioimpedance, body circumferences), physical function (i.e., handgrip strength, Timed stands and time-up-and-go test) and measurement of blood pressure and heart rate at rest. Crude and adjusted linear regression models will be utilized for verify the magnitude of associations between sedentary behavior and depressive symptoms. STUDY 2 is a randomized clinical trial. Participants with mild to severe depressive symptoms will be randomly assigned (1:1) into either INTERVENTION or CONTROL group, using a computer-generated randomization code. Depressive symptoms, quality of life, physical activity, sedentary behavior, body composition, and functionality will be assessed at baseline (PRE) and 4 (POST) months after the experimental period. The INTERVENTION group will participate in a 4-month goal-setting intervention aimed to replace mentally passive sedentary behaviors with mentally active sedentary behaviors, light physical activity, or moderate-to-vigorous activity while CONTROL group will receive general instructions related to WHO guidelines for physical activity. The knowledge emerging from this research may be useful to early design interventions to mitigate the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and aggravation of signs and symptoms of depression and mitigate the increasing global mental health burden. (AU)