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Health behaviours among adolescents with depression
Susan C Campisi1, Samantha Burns2, Daphne J Korczak3
1Nutrition and Dietetics Program, Clinical Public Health Division, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
|December 10, 2025
Summary
Adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) often exhibit poor health behaviors. Improving sleep, diet, and reducing screen time may alleviate depression symptoms, with sleep showing the strongest impact.
Area of Science:
- Adolescent psychiatry
- Behavioral science
- Mental health research
Background:
- Limited research exists on the combined impact of health behaviors on adolescent depression.
- Previous studies primarily focused on individual behaviors in adults.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the collective and individual effects of health behaviors on major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescents.
- To identify specific health behaviors associated with depression symptoms in this population.
Main Methods:
- Structural Equation Models were used to analyze data from 253 adolescents with MDD.
- Collected data included diet, physical activity, sleep duration and quality, and recreational screen time.
- Participants were recruited from an urban hospital's outpatient psychiatry program.
Main Results:
- Adolescents with MDD showed low adherence to recommendations for physical activity, diet, and screen time, with highest adherence for sleep duration.
- Healthier collective behaviors were significantly associated with fewer depression symptoms (β = -0.509, p < .01).
- Sleep duration and quality demonstrated the strongest negative association with depression symptoms (β = -0.445, p < .001; β = 0.580, p < .001).
Conclusions:
- Adolescents with MDD frequently engage in unhealthy sleep, diet, physical activity, and screen time habits.
- Sleep behaviors are strongly linked to depression severity, both directly and indirectly through diet and screen time.
- Further research into the causal mechanisms is crucial for developing targeted depression treatments.
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