Abstract
Depression is the most common mental disorder, affecting around 5% of adolescents. Physical fitness is considered a powerful marker of physical and mental health. The scientific results on the relationship between physical fitness and depression in the adolescent population are mixed. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to analyse the association between objectively assessed physical fitness and self-rated risk of depression in a group of adolescents. A total of 225 participants (44% girls), aged 13.9 ± 0.3 years, from the Deporte, ADOlescencia y Salud (DADOS) study were included in the analyses. Field-based Assessing Levels of Physical fitness and Health in Adolescents (ALPHA) health-related fitness test battery was used to objectively assess physical fitness components. The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) level 3 was used to evaluate self-rated risk of depression. Our results showed that self-rated risk of depression was inversely associated with cardiorespiratory fitness (β = −0.172), as well as positively associated with body mass index (β = 0.146) and waist circumference (β = 0.137) (all p < 0.05). Adolescents with low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness had significantly higher odds of self-rated risk of depression (OR = 7.17; 95% CI, 1.51–33.95). These findings suggest that health-related physical fitness, particularly cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition, is associated with depression in adolescents.
Highlights
Depression is the most common mental disorder, and it could be defined as low mood, pessimism, and apathy experienced over an extended length of time [1]
Health-related physical fitness is as a set of attributes related to a person’s ability to perform physical activity, which includes cardiorespiratory fitness, musculoskeletal and motor capacities, as well as body composition [10]
OR, Odds Ratio; CI, confidence interval. This is the first study analysing the association between a complete range of health-related physical fitness components and self-rated risk of depression in adolescents
Summary
Depression is the most common mental disorder, and it could be defined as low mood, pessimism, and apathy experienced over an extended length of time [1]. Depression during adolescence appears to be associated with some unhealthy behaviours, such as low levels of physical activity [6,7], and with some unhealthy attributes, such as obesity [8]. Health-related physical fitness is as a set of attributes related to a person’s ability to perform physical activity, which includes cardiorespiratory fitness, musculoskeletal and motor capacities, as well as body composition [10]. It is determined by a combination of genetic inheritance and health-related behaviours [11,12], and it is considered a powerful marker of physical and mental health [13]. Public Health 2020, 17, 4316; doi:10.3390/ijerph17124316 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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