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Leisure time exercise and depressive symptoms in sedentary workers: exploring the effects of exercise volume and

Jianjiang Zhang¹, Jiyang Yang², Siping Chen³

¹Medical College, Ningde Normal University, Ningde, China.

Frontiers in Psychiatry

|April 25, 2025

Abstract

Background:

Workers in sedentary occupations often engage in prolonged periods of low physical activity, which may be associated with depressive symptoms. Leisure-time exercise plays a significant role in alleviating these symptoms. Previous studies have shown that adults who engage in physical exercise report fewer depressive symptoms than those who do not. However, the relationship between exercise volume and mental health remains inconsistent. Leisure-time exercise can be categorized into individual and group exercise. Despite its potential importance, little is known about the differential effects of individual and group exercise on depressive symptoms in sedentary occupational populations. The objective of this study was to analyze the association between leisure-time exercise volume and depressive symptoms in sedentary workers, as well as to evaluate the disparities in the effects of individual and group exercise on depressive symptoms.

Methods:

From September to October 2024, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data from sedentary workers. The participants' sociodemographic characteristics, exercise patterns, exercise volume, and depressive symptoms were gathered. Chi-square tests and hierarchical logistic regression were employed to analyze the obtained data.

Results:

Of the 1,277 respondents, 13.16% reported depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher in those with low exercise volume than in those with medium or high exercise volume. Medium and high exercise volumes were associated with a lower risk of depressive symptoms, with odds ratios (OR) of 0.517 and 0.559, respectively. Group exercisers reported fewer depressive symptoms than individual exercisers, with an OR of 0.624.

Conclusion:

The benefits of leisure-time exercise on depressive symptoms in sedentary workers do not always increase with higher exercise volume. Additionally, sedentary workers who participated in group exercise exhibited a lower risk of depressive symptoms than those who participated in individual exercise.

Keywords:

depressive symptoms group exercise individual exercise leisure-time exercise sedentary workers

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