Physical activity and sedentary behaviour-specific domains and their associations with mental health in adults: a systematic review

Objective: The relationship of specific domains of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) (i.e. leisure, work, home, transportation) with mental health/illness is still unclear. Thus, we systematically gathered the evidence that examined the relationship between specific domains of PA and SB with measures of mental health/illness in adults. Method: The review was conducted according to PRISMA criteria, and the search was carried out in the PubMed, SportDiscus, and APA PsychInfo databases. The studies presented a medium to low risk of bias, according to the criteria chosen. Results: The search resulted in 155 records, of which 26 were included with 538,206 people involved. The majority of the studies assess the domain of ‘leisure’, for both PA and SB. Discussion: Based on the gathered information, leisure-time PA was the domain most associated with mental health. Transportation and occupational PA were associated with better mental health in European countries but not in women from lower social classes. Conversely, leisure-time SB was the domain most associated with deleterious mental health outcomes, especially among inactive people. These findings may add to the current public recommendations on PA, stressing the importance of the domain, in addition to the amount and intensity.