Exploring the link between sleep, mental health, and physical activity in urban African young women

Dr Catherine Draper, from the University of Cape Town, investigated the relationships between sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour among young South African women (18-26 years old) from over 20,000 households in historically disadvantaged urban areas.

Sedentary behaviour or physical inactivity has been associated with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and ongoing stress. This cross-sectional analysis examined the relationship between risk factors (adverse childhood experiences, harmful alcohol use, social vulnerability), protective factors (self-efficacy and social support), and health behaviour outcomes (physical activity, sitting, screen and TV time, and sleep duration and quality).

Using multiple regression models, she showed that depression (β=0.161, p <0.001), anxiety (β=0.126, p=0.001), adverse childhood experiences (β=0.076, p=0.014), and alcohol use risk (β=0.089, p=0.002) were all linked to poor quality sleep. These findings were further supported by binomial logistic regression analysis, which showed that anxiety and depression doubled the risk of poor sleep (OR=2.425, p <0.001, OR=2.036, p =0.003 respectively).

In relation to the examined movement behaviours, more screen time (β=0.105, p <0.001) and television time (β=0.075, p <0.016) were linked to alcohol-use risk, whereas less sitting (β=−0.187, p <0001) and screen time (β=−0.014, p <0.001) were linked to social vulnerability. Young women with higher moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity levels (β=0.07, p=0.036), better quality sleep (β=−0.069, p =0.020), and less television watching time (β=−0.079, p =0.012) also showed higher levels of self-efficacy. While more sitting time was correlated with having no family support (β=0.075, p=0.022).

These findings, together with previous qualitative research, highlight the need to further explore the connections between sleep, mental health and health behaviours among young women and support the need for interventions, to enhance the physical and mental health of young women from low-income environments.