College of Sports Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, China.
Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2025 Jan 15;369:789-799. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.10.043. Epub 2024 Oct 10.
In recent years, depression has increasingly become a major global public health issue. Among its common physical symptoms, sleep disturbances are prevalent in individuals with depression and are considered a risk factor for the progression of the disorder. Poor sleep quality may be a significant contributor to depression among college students. However, the EEG indicators that are commonly associated with depressive symptoms and sleep quality, as well as the effects of physical exercise on these EEG indicators, remain unclear.
This study aims to explore the relationship between physical activity levels, depressive symptoms, and sleep quality among college students, based on resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) data in a cross-sectional study.
A total of 342 college students were recruited to assess physical activity levels, depressive symptoms, sleep quality, and EEG data. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the relationships among these variables, and the PROCESS macro (Model 4) for SPSS was applied to examine the mediating role of sleep quality in the relationship between physical activity levels and depressive symptoms, with mediation effects tested using the bootstrap method.
A significant difference was observed in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) total scores between students with and without depressive symptoms (T = 9.746, P < 0.001). Students with depressive symptoms showed poorer sleep quality across various dimensions, including sleep duration, sleep onset latency, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunction. Depression symptom were positively correlated with Sleep Quality (r = 0.547, P < 0.001), indicating that higher depression symptoms are associated with poorer sleep quality. Correlations between depressive symptoms and EEG power values revealed significant associations with theta and beta2 frequencies in multiple brain regions (P < 0.05). Physical exercise showed a significant negative correlation with Sleep Quality scores (r = -0.158, P = 0.004), and with sleep duration (r = -0.141, P = 0.011) and daytime dysfunction (r = -0.142, P = 0.010). Additionally, physical exercise was negatively correlated with theta band power at F8 (P < 0.05). Mediation analysis demonstrated that physical exercise has a direct effect on depressive symptoms (β = -0.123, 95 % CI = -0.287 to -0.069) and an indirect effect through improved sleep quality (β = -0.074, 95 % CI = -0.089 to -0.016), accounting for 60.16 % and 40.65 % of the total effect, respectively.
These findings provide a theoretical basis for developing precise exercise intervention programs to improve depressive symptoms and sleep quality among college students. The results indicate that moderate physical activity can help alleviate depressive symptoms and improve sleep quality, thereby enhancing the overall health of college students.
近年来，抑郁症日益成为一个重大的全球公共卫生问题。在其常见的身体症状中，睡眠障碍在抑郁症患者中很普遍，被认为是疾病进展的一个风险因素。睡眠质量差可能是大学生抑郁的一个重要原因。然而，与抑郁症状和睡眠质量相关的脑电图（EEG）指标，以及体育锻炼对这些 EEG 指标的影响，仍然不清楚。
本研究旨在通过横断面研究，基于静息态脑电图（EEG）数据，探讨大学生的体力活动水平、抑郁症状和睡眠质量之间的关系。
共招募了 342 名大学生，评估其体力活动水平、抑郁症状、睡眠质量和 EEG 数据。采用 Pearson 相关系数评估这些变量之间的关系，并应用 SPSS 的 PROCESS 宏（模型 4）检验睡眠质量在体力活动水平与抑郁症状之间的中介作用，采用 bootstrap 方法检验睡眠质量的中介效应。
有抑郁症状的学生和没有抑郁症状的学生在匹兹堡睡眠质量指数（PSQI）总分上有显著差异（T=9.746，P<0.001）。有抑郁症状的学生在睡眠持续时间、入睡潜伏期、睡眠障碍和白天功能障碍等各个维度的睡眠质量都较差。抑郁症状与睡眠质量呈正相关（r=0.547，P<0.001），表明较高的抑郁症状与较差的睡眠质量有关。抑郁症状与 EEG 功率值之间的相关性显示，在多个脑区与 theta 和 beta2 频率有显著关联（P<0.05）。体力活动与睡眠质量评分呈显著负相关（r=-0.158，P=0.004），与睡眠持续时间（r=-0.141，P=0.011）和白天功能障碍（r=-0.142，P=0.010）也呈显著负相关。此外，体力活动与 F8 处的 theta 波段功率呈负相关（P<0.05）。中介分析表明，体力活动对抑郁症状有直接影响（β=-0.123，95%CI=-0.287 至-0.069），通过改善睡眠质量也有间接影响（β=-0.074，95%CI=-0.089 至-0.016），分别占总效应的 60.16%和 40.65%。
这些发现为制定精确的运动干预计划提供了理论依据，以改善大学生的抑郁症状和睡眠质量。结果表明，适度的体力活动有助于缓解抑郁症状，改善睡眠质量，从而提高大学生的整体健康水平。
