The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Women

Background: Women are less physically active, report greater perceived barriers for exercise, and show higher levels of depressive symptoms. This contributes to high global disability. The relationship between perceived barriers for physical activity and depressive symptoms in women remains largely...

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Main Authors: Caroline A. Figueroa, Adrian Aguilera, Thomas J. Hoffmann, Yoshimi Fukuoka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mary Ann Liebert 2024-04-01
Series:Women's Health Reports
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Online Access:https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/whr.2023.0034
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author Caroline A. Figueroa
Adrian Aguilera
Thomas J. Hoffmann
Yoshimi Fukuoka
author_facet Caroline A. Figueroa
Adrian Aguilera
Thomas J. Hoffmann
Yoshimi Fukuoka
author_sort Caroline A. Figueroa
collection DOAJ
description Background: Women are less physically active, report greater perceived barriers for exercise, and show higher levels of depressive symptoms. This contributes to high global disability. The relationship between perceived barriers for physical activity and depressive symptoms in women remains largely unexplored. The aims of this cross-sectional analysis were to examine the association between physical activity barriers and depressive symptoms, and identify types of barriers in physically inactive community-dwelling women. Methods: Three hundred eighteen physically inactive women aged 25–65 years completed the Barriers to Being Active Quiz (BBAQ) developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale at the baseline visit of the mobile phone-based physical activity education trial. The BBAQ consists of six subscales (lack of time, social influence, lack of energy, lack of willpower, fear of injury, lack of skill, and lack of resources). We used multivariate regression analyses, correcting for sociodemographics. Results: Higher physical activity barriers were associated with greater depressive symptoms scores (linear effect, estimate = 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.39–1.12, p < 0.001). This effect appeared to taper off for the higher barrier scores (quadratic effect, estimate: −0.02, 95% CI: −0.03 to −0.01, p = 0.002). Exploratory analyses indicated that these associations were most driven by the social influence (p = 0.027) and lack of energy subscales (p = 0.017). Conclusions: Higher depression scores were associated with higher physical activity barriers. Social influence and lack of energy were particularly important barriers. Addressing these barriers may improve the efficacy of physical activity interventions in women with higher depressive symptoms. Future research should assess this in a randomized controlled trial. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov#: NCTO1280812 registered January 21, 2011.
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spelling doaj-art-86a7889158444033b0dee0ec5bcf6dc02025-08-20T03:49:45ZengMary Ann LiebertWomen's Health Reports2688-48442024-04-015124224910.1089/whr.2023.0034The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling WomenCaroline A. Figueroa0Adrian Aguilera1Thomas J. Hoffmann2Yoshimi Fukuoka3Department Engineering Systems and Services, Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.Department of Physiological Nursing, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.Background: Women are less physically active, report greater perceived barriers for exercise, and show higher levels of depressive symptoms. This contributes to high global disability. The relationship between perceived barriers for physical activity and depressive symptoms in women remains largely unexplored. The aims of this cross-sectional analysis were to examine the association between physical activity barriers and depressive symptoms, and identify types of barriers in physically inactive community-dwelling women. Methods: Three hundred eighteen physically inactive women aged 25–65 years completed the Barriers to Being Active Quiz (BBAQ) developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale at the baseline visit of the mobile phone-based physical activity education trial. The BBAQ consists of six subscales (lack of time, social influence, lack of energy, lack of willpower, fear of injury, lack of skill, and lack of resources). We used multivariate regression analyses, correcting for sociodemographics. Results: Higher physical activity barriers were associated with greater depressive symptoms scores (linear effect, estimate = 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.39–1.12, p < 0.001). This effect appeared to taper off for the higher barrier scores (quadratic effect, estimate: −0.02, 95% CI: −0.03 to −0.01, p = 0.002). Exploratory analyses indicated that these associations were most driven by the social influence (p = 0.027) and lack of energy subscales (p = 0.017). Conclusions: Higher depression scores were associated with higher physical activity barriers. Social influence and lack of energy were particularly important barriers. Addressing these barriers may improve the efficacy of physical activity interventions in women with higher depressive symptoms. Future research should assess this in a randomized controlled trial. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov#: NCTO1280812 registered January 21, 2011.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/whr.2023.0034physical activitydepressive symptomswomen's healthpreventive medicineexercise
spellingShingle Caroline A. Figueroa
Adrian Aguilera
Thomas J. Hoffmann
Yoshimi Fukuoka
The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Women
Women's Health Reports
physical activity
depressive symptoms
women's health
preventive medicine
exercise
title The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Women
title_full The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Women
title_fullStr The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Women
title_full_unstemmed The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Women
title_short The Relationship Between Barriers to Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Women
title_sort relationship between barriers to physical activity and depressive symptoms in community dwelling women
topic physical activity
depressive symptoms
women's health
preventive medicine
exercise
url https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/whr.2023.0034
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