In a recent study published in BMC Public Healthresearchers investigated the relationship between physical activity and risk of depression among married individuals.
Study: Relationship of physical activity and risk of depression in a married cohort. Image credit: ViDI Studio/Shutterstock.com
Record
Depression is a global health problem that causes chronic discomfort, back pain, headaches, insomnia, anger, and deterioration of family relationships.
Physical activity, including aerobic and anaerobic exercise, positive yoga, and tai chi, can help relieve sadness. Physical activity and depression have a complex relationship that varies by gender and marital status.
According to studies, poor marital status reduces participation in physical activity, while excellent marital status promotes it. Gender also influences athletic behavior, with married women participating in less physical activity than married men.
About the study
In the present study, researchers investigated whether physical activity affected the risk of depression in married adults.
The cohort included 15,607 married people from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted by the Institute of Social Science Survey (ISSS) at Peking University, excluding 3,734 individuals with incomplete or interrupted interviews and 9,249 with missing data or ineligibility.
They assess depression risk using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), with scores above 20 indicating high risk.
Assessment of physical activity excluded cycling and walking to and from work. The team used the nonparametric chi-square test, the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test, and binary logistic regressions to explore the effect of physical activity on the risk of depression among married individuals.
They also included proximal factors related to psychological state and physical behavior, such as age, gender, residence, marital status, and employment status.
Other factors included marital relationships, life emotions, and social relationships. The marital relationship components assessed were marital satisfaction regarding partners’ financial and household contributions. Life emotions investigated were life satisfaction, subjective well-being and self-perceived fitness.
The components of social relationships investigated were subjective interpersonal relationships and subjective social reputation. The researchers investigated gender differences by making separate comparisons between the low- and high-risk groups for depression.
Results
In total, 365 (4.8%) men and 527 (6.6%) women were at high risk of depression. Researchers found physical activity associated with depression risk among study participants.
They observed higher levels of depression in rural areas, on the west side, low educational attainment, and middle- to senior-aged populations.
The only significant risk was found among women with children under 16, while the group of married women without children under 16 was more depressed. Regarding work status, unemployed men were more depressed than women. The chi-square test revealed no significant differences between the two groups.
The Mann-Whiteny test found no significant difference in perceived social status between married women and men in married couples. However, married men showed highly significant differences on all factors.
Among low-risk individuals, the researchers found gender-based differences in exercise frequency, marital satisfaction, financial contribution, household help, self-perceived general health, and subjective well-being.
They found gender differences in marital satisfaction, financial contribution, household contributions, general health, and social status among high-risk individuals.
There were statistically significant gender differences in exercise frequency among low-risk individuals but none among their high-risk counterparts.
The findings suggest that researchers should consider gender differences when investigating the relationship between physical activity and depression risk.
After combining demographic and significant cognitive characteristics, binary regressions revealed that the association between exercise frequency and depression in women was statistically significant (odds ratio, 0.9).
Physical activity was inversely associated with the risk of depression in women. However, the association with depression in men was not statistically significant (odds ratio, 1.0).
Higher life satisfaction, self-perceived fitness, and subjective well-being reduced the likelihood of depression. Marital satisfaction also influenced women’s risk of depression, with greater satisfaction reducing risk. Men’s risk of depression was related to subjective interpersonal relationships, but women’s risk of depression was not.
conclusions
The study’s findings showed a negative relationship between physical activity and depression in marital relationships, particularly among women, suggesting that addressing unpleasant emotions in married women can improve happiness and family harmony.
Although there was no significant association between physical activity and depression in married men, spousal depression may have an impact on family functioning and marital happiness.
Physical activity can help relieve mental distress and maintain family harmony. The report suggests increased attention to women’s mental health, strengthened social support networks for women’s participation in sport, and enrichment of material, opportunity and cultural resources.
Regular physical activity, especially sports that require team participation, can help activate family dynamics.
