Author(s): DELIANG, X., XINGMEI, Z., ZHANJIA, Z., Institution: PEKING UNIVERSITY, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 1939

Adolescence is a critical period in human growth, during which the development of mental health plays a key role. It has been demonstrated that physical activity (PA) significantly contributes to mental health (MH) of adolescents by reducing stress, alleviating anxiety, and relieving the depressive symptoms. Moreover, research has also shown that the amount of screen time (ST) influenced MH of adolescents. However, it remains largely unexplored how PA and ST jointly impact MH of adolescents.
purpose: This study aimed to examine the associations between ST, PA and MH in adolescents.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 558 middle school students (mean age =13.12, 54.1% females) from 9 provinces in China. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires measuring ST encompassing television, computer, mobile phone, electronic game console, tablet, e-reader, and other screen devices, PA using Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A), and multiple indicators of MH including the Brief Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS-PTPB), Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), and Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS-11). A series of multiple regression models were performed with MH variables as the dependent variable and ST as the predictor. Subsequently, PA was introduced as additional predictor of these models. Gender, age, and maternal education level (MEL) were included in all models as covariates.
Results: ST significantly predicted all MH variables, including life satisfaction (β = -0.114, p = 0.02), subjective happiness (β = -0.137, p = 0.01) and adolescent depression (β =0.169, p <0.001). After including PA as additional predictor, ST still significantly predicted MH, but with a reduced level of significance, including life satisfaction (β =-0.086, p = 0.08), subjective happiness (β = -0.102, p = 0.03) and adolescent depression (β = 0.145, p = 3.34e-03). PA was also a significant predictor of all MH variables such that life satisfaction (β = 0.267, p <0.001), subjective happiness (β = 0.326, p <0.001) and adolescent depression (β =-0.239, p <0.001). Regarding covariates, age showed a significant correlation with all MH variables, indicating that higher age is associated with lower life satisfaction (β = -0.101, p = 0.04), lower subjective happiness (β = -0.114, p = 0.02), and higher depression levels (β = 0.108, p = 0.03), while MEL showed a significant correlation with depression (β = -0.126, p = 0.01).
Conclusion: ST and PA Individually influence life satisfaction, subjective happiness, and depression in adolescents with ST having a negative impact and PA having a positive effect. This implies that the regular engagement of PA may act as a protective factor, effectively buffering adolescents against the adverse MH outcomes experienced after screen use. Our findings underscore the suggestion that schools should simultaneously intervene by actively promoting PA and reducing ST to effectively enhance MH.