Previous research has indicated a relationship between sedentary time and depression, but it is unclear how this relationship differs by gender or subtype of sedentary behavior. This commentary expands our previous study on screen time, gender, and depression by examining relationships between sedentary time, gender, and depression. This additional analysis utilized the 2017- March 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Sedentary time was partitioned into two categories, utilizing a cut-off of 600 minutes per day for excessive sedentary time. Depression was defined as a Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥10. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between sedentary time and depression. Our results showed that there was not a significant difference between sedentary time and depression for women, but there was a relationship for men, OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.47, 3.35. Longitudinal research is needed to determine how sedentary time as a risk factor for depression compares to the partitioning of sedentary time into separate risk factors. In addition, this research should examine the relationship between sedentary subtypes and depression with respect to gender.

Depression, Sedentary time, Screen time, Gender, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Patient Health Questionnaire, Mental health