Association between long-term sedentary behavior and depressive symptoms in U.S. adults

The study aimed to investigate the association between long-term sedentary behavior (LTSB) and depressive symptoms within a representative sample of the U.S. adult population. Data from NHANES 2017-2018 were used, encompassing information on demographics, depressive symptoms, physical activity (PA), and LTSB. Depressive symptoms were identified using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), with "depressive symptoms" defined as a PHQ-9 score of ≥ 5, and "moderate to severe depressive symptoms (MSDS)" defined as a PHQ-9 score of ≥ 10. PA and LTSB were assessed through the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, where LTSB was interpreted as sedentary time ≥ 600 min. Restricted Cubic Spline (RCS) curves were utilized to observe potential nonlinear relationships. Binary Logistic regressions were conducted to analyze the associations. A total of 4728 participants (mean age 51.00 ± 17.49 years, 2310 males and 2418 females) were included in the study. Among these individuals, 1194 (25.25%) displayed depressive symptoms, with 417 (8.82%) exhibiting MSDS. RCS curves displayed increased risk of depressive symptoms with prolonged sedentary duration. Logistic regression models indicated significant associations between LTSB and depressive symptoms (OR 1.398, 95% CI 1.098-1.780), and LTSB and MSDS (OR 1.567, 95% CI 1.125-2.183), after adjusting for covariates. These findings suggest that LTSB may act as a potential risk factor for both depressive symptoms and MSDS in the studied population.