Sedentary Behaviour and Subjective Well-being

Investigating the Relationship Between Sedentary Behaviour and Subjective Well-being in University Students: A Cross-sectional Study

This study will investigate the relationship between sedentary behaviour and subjective well-being among a sample of university students. Eligible participants will fill out an online survey with questions assessing their sedentary behaviour, physical activity, subjective well-being, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and demographic variables.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sedentary Behaviour
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Online questionnaire

Detailed Description

An electronic survey will be used to assess outcomes of interest (i.e., demographics, sedentary behaviour and physical activity history, subjective well-being, life satisfaction, depression, and anxiety). The survey will be created and hosted on SoSci Survey. Interested participants will contact the investigators and will be sent a personal link to access the survey. Upon following the link, participants will answer inclusion/exclusion criteria and give electronic consent. Upon confirming consent and eligibility, participants will complete the survey. Upon completion of the survey, participants will be thanked and offered an entry into a draw.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 1006

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7
      • Exercise and health Psychology Lab

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Full-time University students attending Western University

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Currently a full-time student enrolled at Western University
• Are 18 years of age or older
• Are able to read and write in English
• Have access to a computer with internet

Exclusion Criteria:

• Part-time enrollment or currently on a leave of absence from full-time studies at Western University

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Western University Students; Online questionnaire	Other: Online questionnaire; Online questionnaire assessing sedentary behaviour, physical activity, subjective well-being, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and demographics

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Subjective Well-Being (Affect)	Subjective Well-Being (specifically, affect) will be assessed through the Positive Affect & Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). The PANAS consists of a number of words that describe different feelings and emotions. Participants indicate the extent to which they feel a particular feeling and emotion over the past week, using a 5-point scale that ranges from 1 "very slightly or not at all" to 5 "extremely". An overall score for both positive and negative affect is calculated by summing up the points for those particular feelings/emotions (e.g., interested for positive affect, distressed for negative affect). Scores for positive affect can range from 10-50, with higher scores representing higher levels of positive affect. Scores for negative affect can range from 10-50, with lower scores representing lower levels of negative affect.	Baseline
Subjective Well-Being (Life Satisfaction)	Subjective Well-Being (specifically, life satisfaction) will be assessed through the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS); a 5-item scale designed to measure global cognitive judgments of one's life satisfaction. Participants indicate how much they agree or disagree with each of the 5-items over the past week, using a 7-point scale that ranges from 7 "strongly agree" to 1 "strongly disagree". An overall score (from 5 to 35) is calculated through summing the responses to the 5-items. Recommended cutoffs for interpretation are: 5-9, extremely dissatisfied; 10-14, dissatisfied; 15-19, slightly dissatisfied; 20, neutral; 21-25, slightly satisfied; 26-30, satisfied; 31-35, very satisfied.	Baseline
Subjective Well-Being	Subjective Well-Being will be assessed through the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). The WEMWBS consists of 14-items that assesses subjective well-being through both hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of well-being. Participants select the option that best describes their experience with each of the 14-items over the last week (note: the original questionnaire assesses the last two weeks), using a 5-point scale that ranges from 1 "none of the time" to 5 "all of the time". A total score is calculated by summing the 14 individual statement scores. The minimum score is 14 and the maximum is 70, with higher scores indicating greater levels of subjective well-being.	Past seven days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Physical Activity	Average total weekday and weekend time spent in moderate and vigorous physical activities in the last 7 days will be assessed through the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Seven - Short Form Past 7 Days (IPAQ-S7S). Participants report how many days per week (0-7) and how many hours/minutes per day they spent engaged in vigorous and moderate intensity physical activity, as well as walking.	Past seven days
Sedentary Behaviour	Average weekday and weekend domain-specific time spent sedentary over the past 7 days will be assessed through the modified SIT-Q 7d questionnaire. Participants indicate on a scale of responses the range of times that best correspond to the average amount of time they spent sedentary on weekdays/weekends in domains of: Sleeping and Napping, Meals, Transportation, Occupation(s), Screen Time, and Other Activities, during the past 7 days. Response ranges typically span 30 minutes to 1 hour (e.g., Less than 30 minutes, 1-2 hours). Average total sitting time per weekday will be assessed through a single question on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Seven - Short Form Past 7 Days (IPAQ-S7S): "During the last 7 days, how much time did you spend sitting on a weekday?"	Past seven days
Depression	Depressive symptomatology will be assessed through the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The CES-D scale is a short self-report scale designed to measure depressive symptomatology in the general population. Participants indicate how often in the past week they have felt or behaved for each of the 20 feelings/behaviors in the scale. Options range from: rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day), some or little of the time (1-2 days), occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-5 days), and most or all of the time (5-7 days). These options correspond to a score of either: 0, 1, 2, or 3, depending on the framing of the question. A total score is achieved through summing the scores for all 20 questions; scores range from 0-60, with lower scores indicating a lower symptomatomology for depression. A clinical cut-off point of 20 has been recommended.	Past seven days
Anxiety (State)	State anxiety will be assessed through the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Form Y-1. Participants read each of the 20 statements and then write the number in the blank at the end of the statement that indicates how they feel right now (i.e., at this moment). Responses range from: 1 - not at all, to 4 - very much so; these response correspond to a score of 1-4 for anxiety-related items, and 4-1 for anxiety-absent items. A total score is obtained by summing the scores for each question. Total scores range from 20-80, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. A cut point of 39-40 has been suggested to detect clinically significant symptoms for the State Anxiety scale.	Baseline

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Age	Assessed with a single-item question: "What is your age?"	Baseline
Gender	Assessed with a single-item question: "What is your preferred gender?"	Baseline
Program of study	Assessed with a single-item question: "What is your current program of study?"	Baseline
Year of study	Assessed with a single-item question: "What is your current year of study?"	Baseline
Degree Pursuing	Assessed with a single-item question: "What degree are you pursuing?"	Baseline
Ethnicity	Assessed with a single-item question: "Which ethnicity do you most closely identify with?"	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Western University, Canada
• Collaborators: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Harry Prapavessis, PhD, Western University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988 Jun;54(6):1063-70. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.54.6.1063.
• Craig CL, Marshall AL, Sjostrom M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE, Pratt M, Ekelund U, Yngve A, Sallis JF, Oja P. International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Aug;35(8):1381-95. doi: 10.1249/01.MSS.0000078924.61453.FB.
• Diener E, Emmons RA, Larsen RJ, Griffin S. The Satisfaction With Life Scale. J Pers Assess. 1985 Feb;49(1):71-5. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.
• Tennant R, Hiller L, Fishwick R, Platt S, Joseph S, Weich S, Parkinson J, Secker J, Stewart-Brown S. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2007 Nov 27;5:63. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-5-63.
• Julian LJ. Measures of anxiety: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A). Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011 Nov;63 Suppl 11(0 11):S467-72. doi: 10.1002/acr.20561. No abstract available.
• Ryan RM, Frederick C. On energy, personality, and health: subjective vitality as a dynamic reflection of well-being. J Pers. 1997 Sep;65(3):529-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1997.tb00326.x.
• Wijndaele K, DE Bourdeaudhuij I, Godino JG, Lynch BM, Griffin SJ, Westgate K, Brage S. Reliability and validity of a domain-specific last 7-d sedentary time questionnaire. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014 Jun;46(6):1248-60. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000000214. Erratum In: Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2014 Sep;46(9):1869.
• Sui W, Prapavessis H. Standing Up for Student Health: An Application of the Health Action Process Approach for Reducing Student Sedentary Behavior-Randomised Control Pilot Trial. Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2018 Mar;10(1):87-107. doi: 10.1111/aphw.12105. Epub 2017 Dec 5.
• Vilagut G, Forero CG, Barbaglia G, Alonso J. Screening for Depression in the General Population with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D): A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. PLoS One. 2016 May 16;11(5):e0155431. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155431. eCollection 2016.
• Radloff LS: The CES-D Scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement 1:385-401, 1977.

Helpful Links

• SoSci Survey website - host of electronic questionnaire

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 5, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): September 20, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 23, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 1, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 2, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 29, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 27, 2020
• Last Verified: September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Sedentary Behaviour; University Students; Subjective Well-Being
• Other Study ID Numbers: 111662

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes
• IPD Plan Description: Upon publication of the research results, IPD will be shared into the Federated Research Data Repository (FRDR)
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will become available upon publication of the research results, and will be available for 5 years after depositing.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Members of the FRDR will be able to access the data.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: Study Protocol

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No