Behavior
Replacing Sedentary Behavior with Physical Activity: A 15-Minute Strategy to Alleviate Psychological Distress in College Students from Economically Disadvantaged Regions Marcus Vinícius Nascimento-Ferreira* Marcus Vinicius Nascimento Ferreira Antonio Gibran de Almeida Cardoso Benjamin Baird Evillyn Ravena da Silva Gomes Marina Lira da Silva Helen Ferreira de Brito Souza Jacqueline Fernandes de Sá Xavier Ladislau Ribeiro do Nascimento Tiago Almeida de Oliveira Shirley Cunha Feuerstein Kliver Antonio Marin Augusto César F. De Moraes
Aim: To examine psychological distress predictions using compositional data analysis of time reallocations among daily movement behaviors in undergraduate students from economically disadvantaged regions.
Methods: 405 students from two Brazilian cities (Gini indices up to 0.56) participated: 67.9% were female, 65.1% under 20 years old, 71.8% identified as non-white, and 86.7% reported a monthly household income below USD 260.15. The exposures were self-reported 24-hour movement behaviors: sedentary behavior (SED), light physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and sleep. Psychological distress, the outcome, was measured using a scale for somatization, depression and anxiety symptoms. Covariates included biological sex, age, race/ethnicity, household income, academic course, semester and shift. Movement behaviors were expressed as isometric log-ratio (ILR) coordinates: ILR1 (sleep relative to SED, LPA, and MVPA), ILR2 (SED relative to LPA and MVPA), and ILR3 (LPA relative to MVPA). Log-ratio multiple linear regression predicted psychological distress for the mean movement behavior composition and for new compositions reflecting 15-, 30-, 45-, and 60-minute time reallocations between behaviors.
Results: In the original model, only IRL1 was significantly associated with psychological distress (β= -5.41, 95% CI: -9.07 to -1.75). Neither IRL2 (β= 2.07, 95% CI: -0.12 to 4.26) nor IRL3 (β = 0.51, 95% CI: -1.38 to 2.40) showed significant associations. Replacing SED with MVPA resulted in the following IRL2 estimates: 15 minutes (β= 2.20, 95% CI: 0.23 to 4.19), 30 minutes (β= 2.06, 95% CI: 0.03 to 4.08), 45 minutes (β= 1.88, 95% CI: -0.18 to 3.94), and 60 minutes (β= 1.66, 95% CI: -0.40 to 3.73). Reallocating 15 and 30 minutes from SED to MVPA predicted reductions in psychological distress scores of 0.38 and 0.59 units, respectively.
Conclusions: Replacing as little as 15 minutes of sedentary behavior with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is a promising approach to reducing psychological distress in college students from disadvantaged regions.