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First publication from my PhD on the association between physical activity and mental health outcomes in Irish adolescents just published. Some key findings outlined in the thread below. You can download the full paper here:
http://doi.org/10.5334/paah.58
http://doi.org/10.5334/paah.58
We surveyed 5,661 adolescents from the Republic Of Ireland. At least one school from each county was involved so a decent geographical spread. See breakdown by year group and sex in the table and figure.
Worryingly only 8% of adolescents are meeting physical activity recommendations. Largest drop-offs were from 2nd to 3rd year in females and 3rd to TY in males. Only 1% of females in 6th Year meet minimum daily PA recommendations 
Symptoms of depression were in the mild to extreme range in 28% of males, 47% of females and 89% of those who identified as neither. In total almost 4 in 10 adolescents have symptoms outside the normal range. Depression symptoms were highest in 3rd Year and lowest in 1st Year.
Symptoms of anxiety were in the moderate to concerning range in 19% of males, 39% of females and 71% of those who identified as neither. Almost 1 in 3 adolescents have symptoms of anxiety outside the normal range. Anxiety symptoms were highest in 3rd Year and lowest in 1st Year.
Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale showed 1st years to have the highest levels of wellbeing while 6th years had the lowest. Wellbeing was also found to increase with a higher frequency of physical activity.
More detailed breakdown by year and sex for wellbeing, anxiety and depression in this table.
We broke levels of activity down further to sub-groups. Over 1 in 5 females were active for only 0-3 days per fortnight while more than half of males were active at least every second day.
To highlight some positive findings, increasing physical activity from 0 or 1 bouts a week to even 1 or 2 can lead to positive changes in mental health outcomes.
Engagement in sports was quite positive with 80% of those surveyed involved in at least 1. Nearly 2 in 3 males engage in 2 or more sports while 3 in 4 females engage in at least 1 sport.
A linear increase in wellbeing was seen among the more sports that are played. Adolescents playing 3 or more sports reported the highest wellbeing score of any subgroup we examined.
We delved a bit deeper into sport and found 58% of females and 76% of males played at least one team sport in the past 6 months. We found a significant difference in all mental health outcomes that favoured engagement in team sport for both males and females.
More detailed breakdown of mental health outcomes by physical activity or sport subgroup. (Bit of a monster table)
If you want some detail on how physical activity impacts mental health, this paper by Lubans et al proposes a model for potential mechanisms including the neurobiological, psychosocial and behavioural associations:
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/138/3/e20161642
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/138/3/e20161642
The findings ask some key questions that require further exploration but also highlight areas for development and action.
Instead of simply reporting what we found and highlighting some worrying findings, itâs important to make recommendations for people to introduce almost immediately:
Ultimately, we also need change at a policy and funding level for change to happen in the longer term. See more recommendations here:
Thanks to supervisors and co-authors @DrBMcGranePE and @sweenema for the help in getting this published. We hope to publish more in terms of associations with sleep, social media and body image in the coming year.
Also, thanks to all of the schools and teachers who facilitated this research. We hope to re-issue the questionnaire to see what impact Covid-19 restrictions have had on any of the physical activity and mental health outcomes in the coming months.
