The Relationships between Physical Activity, Screen Time and Sleep Time According to the Adolescents’ Sex and the Day of the Week

Abstract

This study had two aims: (1) to identify the levels of physical activity, screen time and sleep time of adolescents according to the sex of the participant and the day of the week; (2) to find out the relationships between physical activity, screen time and sleep time according to the sex of the participant and the day of the week. The study design was non-experimental, descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional. The sample consisted of 694 adolescents in Compulsory Secondary Education from Soria (Spain). Four by One-Day Physical Activity Questionnaires were used to measure levels of physical activity, screen time and sleep time. Levene's test and Student's t-test were used to calculate the difference between the means of the variables. Pearson's test was used to calculate bivariate correlations between variables. Results showed higher levels of screen time in males (136.93 min/day +/- 81.548). Screen time, sleep time and moderate-vigorous physical activity are higher during the weekend. Positive relationships were found between screen time and light physical activity (r(males) = 0.274; p <= 0.01; r(females) = 0.065; p > 0.05). The correlations between moderate-vigorous physical activity and screen time were negative (r(males) = -0.282; p <= 0.01; r(females) = -0.187; p <= 0.05). The relationship between screen time and sleep time was negative in males (r = -0.135; p <= 0.05). In conclusion, the levels of physical activity, screen time and sleep time vary according to the sex of the participants and the day of the week.