The associations between different intensities of leisure-time physical activity and subsequent psychological distress: moderation by age.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated how age moderates the prospective associations between different intensities of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and psychological distress.

METHODS

The study was conducted on prospective data from two cohorts of the Finnish Helsinki Health Study in 2017 and 2022: the young and early midlife employee cohort ('younger cohort', aged 19 to 39 in 2017, n = 3135, 80.2% (n = 2515) women) and the current and retired employees' cohort ('older cohort', aged 55 to 75 in 2017, n = 5172, 82.2% (n = 4251) women). LTPA was measured as metabolic equivalent hours (MET-hours) across three intensity levels (light, moderate, vigorous) in 2017. Psychological distress was measured using the emotional well-being subscale from the RAND-36 questionnaire. The scores were reversed where higher scores indicated more psychological distress. General Linear Models were fitted to examine whether age moderates the associations between light, moderate and vigorous LTPA in 2017 and psychological distress in 2022, while adjusting for baseline psychological distress, sociodemographic and health-related factors.

RESULTS

Higher moderate LTPA was associated with less psychological distress in the older cohort (β = -0.163 (-0.210, -0.116)). Higher vigorous LTPA was similarly associated with less psychological distress in both cohorts (β = -0.053, (-0.079, -0.026)). Both associations remained significant after adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Vigorous LTPA seems to be equally beneficial regardless of age. Moderate LTPA may be more beneficial for older individuals. Adjusting for baseline psychological distress attenuated all associations.