The ARCH Lab recently contributed to a paper titled “The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and Psychological Distress among Adolescents: Les Directives canadiennes en matière de mouvement sur 24 heures et la détresse psychologique chez les adolescents”. The study reviewed the current Canadian 24-Hour movement guidelines for children and youth and examined the association between meeting these targets and psychological distress in adolescents.

The sample included 6,364 students between the ages of 11 and 20 who were enroled in the 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. The results showed a clear association between meeting the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and lowered anxiety and depressive symptoms among this population. The clearest driving factor was in meeting the sleep duration recommendation.

The results of this study could be used to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors among adolescents to decrease risk of mental illness in the population.