Physically active adolescents are less likely to be depressed

“Young people who're less physically active over time have an increased risk of developing symptoms of depression,” says Silje Steinsbekk.

She is a professor at NTNU's Department of Psychology.

“This finding was true for teens who were 14 to 16 years old and 16 to 18 years old. Both the sum of daily physical activity, and the proportion of activity that's more intense and particularly important for our health, turned out to protect against symptoms of depression,” she says.

Large group followed for years

The researchers followed a large group of children and adolescents for a long time through the Trondheim Early Secure Study. 

Every two years, physical activity was measured using advanced pedometers. Participants wore these for seven days.

Interviews were used to map the participants' mental health. This has provided valuable results.

This time, the data comes from 873 participants. It covers the period from the age of 6 to 18. A total of 7 rounds of data (6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 years) form the basis of the study.

“We also investigated whether belief in one’s own physical abilities, body image, and sports participation had an impact on the association between physical activity and depression,” says Steinsbekk.

Physical activity can protect against depression

“Although we found that physical activity seems to protect against depression symptoms in adolescence, this did not apply to young adolescents aged 10 to 14,” says Steinsbekk.

She explans that they found the opposite correlation from 10-12 and 14-16 years:

“Those who had more symptoms of depression were more likely to become less physically active,” she says.

The researchers’ conclusion is clear.

“Young people who increase their physical activity level from the age of 14 and a few years later have a lower risk of developing symptoms of depression than they would otherwise have. For this age group, it may appear that physical activity protects against symptoms of depression,” says Steinsbekk.

The researchers found no association between time spent being sedentary and depression. Nor did they find any difference between the sexes.

Reference:

Steinsbekk et al. Symptoms of Depression, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Time: Within-Person Relations From Age 6 to 18 in a Birth Cohort, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2025.03.018

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