Zhao Q, Wang X, Li SF, Wang P, Wang X, Xin X, Yin SW, Yin ZS, Mao LJ. Relationship between physical activity and specific working memory indicators of depressive symptoms in university students. World J Psychiatry 2024; 14(1): 148-158 [PMID: 38327896 DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i1.148]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Li-Juan Mao, PhD, Professor, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, No. 399 Changhai Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200438, China.maolijuan@sus.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Psychology
Article-Type of This Article
Observational Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Qun Zhao, Xing Wang, Shu-Fan Li, Peng Wang, Xiang Wang, Xin Xin, Suo-Wang Yin, Zhao-Song Yin, Li-Juan Mao, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China
Qun Zhao, Department of Physical Education, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
Author contributions: Zhao Q wrote the original manuscript and collected the data; Wang X collected and analyzed the data; Wang P wrote part of the manuscript; Xin X and Yin ZS collected the data; Li SF curated the data; Wang X and Yin SW curated the data; Mao LJ reviewed and edited.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Science and Research Office of Shanghai University of Sport (Shanghai).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li-Juan Mao, PhD, Professor, School of Physical Education, Shanghai University of Sport, No. 399 Changhai Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai 200438, China.maolijuan@sus.edu.cn
Received: October 17, 2023 Peer-review started: October 17, 2023 First decision: November 30, 2023 Revised: December 9, 2023 Accepted: December 28, 2023 Article in press: December 28, 2023 Published online: January 19, 2024
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Depression is an important factor contributing to the global burden of disease, and the detection rate of depressed mood among Chinese university students ranges from 21.6 per cent to 37.6 percent, with a tendency to increase year by year.
Research motivation
Reduce the prevalence of depressive symptoms in college students.
Research objectives
This paper aims to discuss the relationship between different factors, the performance of sports exercises, and the working memory of university students with depression.
Research methods
One-way analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlation were used to explore the correlations and interaction pathways between variables.
Research results
There was a significant difference between depressive symptomatic and healthy college students in the completion of both verbal and spatial working memory tasks correctly. Physical Activity Scale-3 scores were significantly and positively correlated with verbal working memory (VWM) correctness and spatial working memory (SWM) correctness. High- and moderate-intensity physical exercise were significantly different from low-intensity physical exercise. In terms of VWM correctness, there was a significant difference between medium-duration compared with low-duration physical exercise; in terms of SWM correctness, there was a significant difference between high-duration and medium-duration physical exercise compared with low-duration physical exercise. There was no significant difference in the correct VWM and SWM rates between the different exercise frequencies.
Research conclusions
Colleges and universities should encourage students with depressive symptoms to increase their physical activity and improve their working memory. This is particularly evident with increased intensity and duration of physical activity, which may reduce the incidence of depressive symptoms.
Research perspectives
The use of objective measurement tools is recommended for future studies, and longitudinal studies are necessary to further define the course of action.
