A J-shaped relationship was observed, with minimal anxiety risk at 6 sedentary hours per day but a sharp increase beyond this threshold, according to a recent study.
In the cross-sectional study, published in BMC Psychiatry, investigators evaluated the dose-response relationship between sedentary behavior and anxiety and determined whether short bouts of walking mitigate the risk. They analyzed data from 28,977 participants in the 2022 Psychology and Behavior Investigation of Chinese Residents. Anxiety was assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and sedentary time was self-reported using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Binary logistic regression examined associations between sedentary behavior and anxiety, while a restricted cubic spline model assessed the dose-response relationship.
The findings demonstrated that participants with over 6 hours of daily sedentary time had a 25.1% higher risk of anxiety (odds ratio [OR] = 1.251, 95% confidence interval [CI] = not reported). Among this cohort, each additional hour of sedentary time was associated with a 4.3% increase in anxiety risk (OR = 1.043). A nonlinear J-shaped relationship was observed (P < .001), indicating that anxiety risk sharply increases beyond 6 sedentary hours per day. However, no statistically significant association was found in participants sedentary for 6 or fewer hours.
The investigators, led by Zheng Tian, of the School of Nursing at Tianjin Medical University in China, also examined the potential mitigating effect of walking. Among participants with over 6 hours of sedentary time, those who walked for more than 10 minutes on fewer than 5 days per week had a 67.1% increased risk of anxiety (OR = 1.671). In contrast, those who walked for over 10 minutes on more than 5 days per week had a 19% lower risk (OR = 0.810). Among participants sedentary for 6 or fewer hours, each additional day of walking for over 10 minutes was associated with a 9.8% reduction in anxiety risk (OR = 0.902), whereas in those sedentary for more than 6 hours, the reduction was 10.3% (OR = 0.897).
The results indicated that sedentary behavior exceeding 6 hours per day was associated with increased anxiety risk, while walking for over 10 minutes on more than 5 days per week was linked to lower anxiety risk. Fewer than 5 days was associated with increased risk. Given the study’s reliance on self-reported sedentary time and walking duration, the investigators expressed the need for future studies using wearable devices to improve measurement accuracy and inform physical activity–based anxiety interventions.
The researchers reported no conflicts of interest.