Dataset Information

Changes in physical activity levels and mental health during COVID-19: Prospective findings among adult twin pairs

ABSTRACT:

Background

Physical distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic mitigation strategies have negatively impacted physical activity (PA) levels and mental health in cross-sectional studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between changes in PA and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, following implementation of mitigation strategies, in a sample of adult twins.

Methods

This was a prospective study of 3,057 adult twins from the Washington State Twin Registry. Study participants completed online surveys in 2020, at baseline (March 26 –April 5), and three follow-up waves (W1: April 20 –May 3; W2: Jul 16 –Aug 2; W3: Sept 16 –Oct 1). Physical activity was operationalized as self-reported moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and neighborhood walking (minutes/week), and mental health outcomes, operationalized as self-reported anxiety and perceived stress were assessed in the three waves of follow-up. Latent growth curve models (LGCMs) were used to assess changes in PA and mental health outcomes over time. Parallel LGCMs were used to estimate the cross-sectional, parallel, and prospective associations between PA and mental health over time. All models took into within-pair correlations and adjusted for age, sex, and race.

Results

Individuals’ amount of MVPA and walking decreased over time, whereas levels of anxiety remained stable, and stress increased slightly. Cross-sectional associations observed between both PA predictors and mental health outcomes were weak. After taking into account cross-sectional associations between PA and mental health outcomes, changes in PA over time were not associated with changes in mental health outcomes over time.

Conclusions

Over a time period aligned with COVID-19 mitigation strategies and social restrictions, changes in physical activity was not associated with changes in anxiety or stress levels in the current sample. Nonetheless, the average decline in PA over time is worrisome. Public health resources should continue to promote PA as a means to improve physical health during the pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Duncan G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8608318 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundPhysical distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic mitigation strategies may have unintended consequences on a number of health behaviors and health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between perceived change in physical activity or exercise and mental health outcomes over the short-term in response to COVID-19 mitigation strategies in a sample of adult twins.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study of 3,971 identical and same-sex fraternal adult twins (909 pairs, 77% identical) from the community-based Washington State Twin Registry. Participants in this study completed an online survey examining the impact of COVID-19 mitigation on a number of health-related behaviors and outcomes, administered between March 26 and April 5, 2020. In the present study, the exposure was perceived change in physical activity or exercise. The outcomes were levels of perceived anxiety and stress.ResultsMore twin pairs reported a decrease in physical activity levels (42%) than those reporting no change (31%) or increased physical activity levels (27%). A perceived decrease in physical activity or exercise was associated with higher stress and anxiety levels. However, the physical activity-stress relationship was confounded by genetic and shared environmental factors. On the other hand, the physical activity-anxiety relationship held after controlling for genetic and shared environmental factors, although it was no longer significant after further controlling for age and sex, with older twins more likely to report lower levels of anxiety and females more likely to report higher levels of anxiety.ConclusionsStrategies to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic may be impacting physical activity and mental health, with those experiencing a decrease in physical activity also having higher levels of stress and anxiety. These relationships are confounded by genetic and shared environmental factors, in the case of stress, and age and sex, in the case of anxiety.

Project description:The reasons for the association between physical activity (PA) and bone microarchitecture traits are unclear. We examined whether these associations were consistent with causation and/or with shared familial factors using a cross-sectional study of 47 dizygotic and 93 monozygotic female twin pairs aged 31-77 years. Images of the nondominant distal tibia were obtained using high-resolutionperipheral quantitative computed tomography. The bone microarchitecture was assessed using StrAx1.0 software. Based on a self-completed questionnaire, a PA index was calculated as a weighted sum of weekly hours of light (walking, light gardening), moderate (social tennis, golf, hiking), and vigorous activity (competitive active sports) = light + 2 * moderate + 3 * vigorous. We applied Inference about Causation through Examination of FAmiliaL CONfounding (ICE FALCON) to test whether cross-pair cross-trait associations changed after adjustment for within-individual associations. Within-individual distal tibia cortical cross-sectional area (CSA) and cortical thickness were positively associated with PA (regression coefficients [β] = 0.20 and 0.22), while the porosity of the inner transitional zone was negatively associated with PA (β = -0.17), all p < 0.05. Trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) and trabecular thickness were positively associated with PA (β = 0.13 and 0.14), and medullary CSA was negatively associated with PA (β = -0.22), all p ≤ 0.01. Cross-pair cross-trait associations of cortical thickness, cortical CSA, and medullary CSA with PA attenuated after adjustment for the within-individual association (p = 0.048, p = 0.062, and p = 0.028 for changes). In conclusion, increasing PA was associated with thicker cortices, larger cortical area, lower porosity of the inner transitional zone, thicker trabeculae, and smaller medullary cavities. The attenuation of cross-pair cross-trait associations after accounting for the within-individual associations was consistent with PA having a causal effect on the improved cortical and trabecular microarchitecture of adult females, in addition to shared familial factors. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).