Frequent Sports Dance May Serve as a Protective Factor for Depression Among College Students: A Real-World Data Analysis in China.

PURPOSE

This study aims to investigate the role of frequent sports dance in preventing mental disorders, including anxiety and depression, among college students using real-world data, and to further analyze potential risk factors associated with anxiety and depression.

METHODS

We investigated 921 college students from eight universities in China. A survey was completed by 901 students and they were included in the analysis. The anxiety score was evaluated by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale and the depression score was evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Subgroup comparisons were performed among frequent sports dance students and non-frequent sports dance students.

RESULTS

Of all the students, 9.98% had moderate-to-severe anxiety and 14.65% students suffered from moderate-to-severe depression. Compared with non-frequent sports dance students, frequent sports dance students had significantly lower depression scores (=0.04). According to the multiple logistic regression models, when potential confounding factors were all adjusted, frequent sports dance was also significantly associated with less depression (OR=0.55, 95% CI: 0.36-0.84, <0.01). We also found that higher college grade levels (<0.01), non-physical education students (=0.02), higher body mass index (=0.02), lower exercise frequency per week (<0.01), addiction to drinking (=0.02), and previous diagnosis of anxiety or depression in hospital (<0.01) were significantly associated with more anxiety; higher college grade levels (<0.01), addiction to drinking (<0.01), preference for eating fried food (=0.02), soda as the main source of drinking water (=0.01), and previous diagnosis of anxiety or depression (=0.03) were significantly associated with more depression, while higher exercise frequency per week (<0.01), only-child status (<0.01), and preference for eating vegetables (=0.02) were significantly associated with less depression.

CONCLUSION

Anxiety and depression are common among college students. Frequent sports dance may serve as a protective factor for preventing depression and it can be recommended for college students.