Open AccessLong-Term Links between Physical Activity and Sleep Quality
Author(s) -
Thalia Semplonius,
Teena Willoughby
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
medicine and science in sports and exercise
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.703
H-Index - 224
eISSN - 1530-0315
pISSN - 0195-9131
DOI - 10.1249/mss.0000000000001706
Subject(s) - sleep (system call) , association (psychology) , physical activity , psychology , cross sectional study , longitudinal study , path analysis (statistics) , sleep deprivation , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , gerontology , audiology , medicine , physical therapy , cognition , psychiatry , statistics , mathematics , pathology , computer science , psychotherapist , operating system
Findings from cross-sectional research indicate that the relationship between sleep quality and physical activity is mixed. For research that does indicate a significant association, the interpretation of the finding most often is that physical activity leads to better sleep, or less frequently, that better sleep leads to more involvement in physical activity (see sleep deprivation studies). Cross-sectional studies, however, are not able to assess the direction of these effects, and experimental studies have tested only one direction of the effects. Longitudinal studies, with their focus on temporal order, are needed to specifically examine the link between sleep and physical activity as well as the direction of effects. The current study had three goals: to examine 1) the longitudinal relationship between sleep and physical activity, 2) the direction of effects, and 3) whether emotion regulation mediates the relationship between sleep and physical activity.