ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL MEDICINE 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2023 June;63(6):748-55

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.23.14494-X

Copyright © 2023 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Sleep quality is mediated by physical activity level in adolescents

Alvaro PANO-RODRIGUEZ ¹ ✉, Jose V. BELTRAN-GARRIDO ^{2, 3}, Vicens HERNADEZ-GONZALEZ ¹, Javier BUENO-ANTEQUERA ^{4, 5}, Miguel A. OVIEDO-CARO ^{4, 5}, Carmen MAYOLAS-PI ⁵, Alejandro LEGAZ-ARRESE ⁵, Joaquin REVERTER-MASIA ¹

¹ Department of Specific Didactics, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain; ² Health and Sport Sciences University School (Euses), Rovira I Virgili University, Amposta, Spain; ³ Department of Education and Specific Didactics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón de La Plana, Spain; ⁴ Section of Physical Education and Sports, Department of Sports and Computer Science, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Physical Performance and Sports Research Center, University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain; ⁵ Section of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

BACKGROUND: Sleep is essential for the adolescent’s health and well-being. Despite existing evidence of the positive relationship between physical activity and quality of sleep, some other factors could mediate this association. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the interaction between the level of physical activity and sleep in adolescents depending on their gender.
METHODS: A total of 12,459 subjects 11 to 19 years old (5073 male and 5016 female) reported data regarding their quality of sleep and their level of physical activity.
RESULTS: Better quality of sleep was reported by males regardless of the level of physical activity (d=0.25, P<0.001). Better quality of sleep was reported by active subjects (P<0.05), and it improved in both sexes as the level of physical activity was higher (P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Male adolescents have better sleep quality than females regardless of their competitive level. The higher the adolescents’ physical activity level the higher the quality of sleep.

KEY WORDS: Sleep quality; Adolescent; Exercise; Sports