Prospective associations between sedentary behavior and physical activity in adolescence and sleep duration in adulthood

Citation

Li, Longfeng; Sheehan, Connor M.; Petrov, Megan E.; & Mattingly, Jennifer L. (2021). Prospective associations between sedentary behavior and physical activity in adolescence and sleep duration in adulthood. Preventive Medicine. vol. 153 , PMCID: PMC8638459

Abstract

The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate whether sedentary screen time (SST) and physical activity in adolescence were related to sleep duration in adulthood and whether these associations varied by sex. We analyzed data from 9279 adolescents who participated in Waves I and V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) in the United States. SST was measured by reported hours spent watching television/videos or playing video/computer games per week. Physical activity was measured with participation in school team club sports and frequency (times/week) of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Results from multinomial regression models indicated that adolescents with more SST, particularly 15–21 h (Relative Risk Ratio [RRR] = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02–1.36) or 22 or more hours (RRR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.06–1.35) compared to 0–7 h per week SST, had significantly higher relative risk of short sleep (six or fewer hours) in adulthood, after controlling for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status and health behaviors at Waves I and V, sleep duration at Wave I, and SST and MVPA at Wave V. The association between 22 or more hours per week SST in adolescence and later short sleep varied by sex (RRR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.58–0.95) and was significantly stronger among males. Measures of physical activity in adolescence did not predict sleep duration. Decreasing adolescents' SST to prevent suboptimal sleep later in development may be a target for further investigation, particularly for males.

URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106812

Keyword(s)

Sedentary screen time

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Preventive Medicine

Author(s)

Li, Longfeng
Sheehan, Connor M.
Petrov, Megan E.
Mattingly, Jennifer L.

Year Published

2021

Volume Number

153

DOI

10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106812

PMCID

PMC8638459

NIHMSID

NIHMS1757740

Reference ID

9458