Open Access

ARTICLE

Association between Different Sedentary Behaviors and Depressive Symptoms in College Students: A 3-Year Prospective Cohort Study

Yongjin Xu^1,#, Chunchun Wu^2,#, Yan Huang¹, Fei Zhong³, Guang Yang^1,*, Cong Huang^4,*
1 Chinese Center of Exercise Epidemiology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
2 Department of Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
3 College of Physical Education, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China
4 Department of Sports Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
* Corresponding Author: Guang Yang. Email: ; Cong Huang. Email:
# These authors have contributed equally to this work
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Risk and Protective Factors, Assessment, Interventions and Lifespan Outcomes)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2026.086795

Received 05 June 2026; Accepted 07 August 2026; Published online 26 August 2026

Abstract

Background: Sedentary behavior is associated with increased depressive symptoms, but longitudinal studies on this topic are lacking. This 3-year prospective cohort study aimed to determine whether baseline learning and screen time were associated with the risk of depressive symptoms during follow-up among Chinese college students. Methods: This study analyzed information about 1318 college students at Shenyang Normal University who were assessed at baseline in November 2017 and followed up annually from 2018 to November 2020. Sedentary behavior was evaluated using self-reported questionnaires about learning and screen time, and depressive symptoms were identified using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Associations between sedentary behavior and depressive symptoms were analyzed using logistic regression with sociodemographic and lifestyle covariates. Results: Logistic regression analysis indicated that the risk of depressive symptoms in the highest tertile (T3, >510 min/day) of learning time was lower than that in the lowest tertile (T1, ≤160 min/day) in the final adjusted model (Model 2: odds ratio [OR], 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58–1.00; p = 0.050). Conversely, students in the middle screen-time tertile (T2, 90–200 min/day) had a higher risk of depressive symptoms than those in the lowest tertile (T1, ≤90 min/day; Model 2: OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.08, 1.89, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Learning-related sedentary behavior might reduce the risk of depressive symptoms among college students, whereas screen time is positively associated with depressive symptoms. This emphasizes the importance of learning in preventing depression and highlights the need for careful consideration of the relationship between different types of sedentary behavior and the risk of depressive symptoms.

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Keywords

Sedentary behavior; depressive symptoms; college student; cohort study; fitness improvement tactics in youth

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