If you’re feeling depressed, should you get up and move?
Silje Steinsbekk, full professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, discusses whether physical activity is the answer.
Silje Steinsbekk is a full professor of clinical child- and adolescent psychology, and co-PI of the Trondheim Early Secure Study (TESS) at the Dept. of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
TESS is an ongoing longitudinal study that began in 2007, involving 1,250 children from the 2003 and 2004 birth cohorts, along with their parents, in Trondheim, Norway. In-depth data—collected through interviews, questionnaires, tests, and observations—has been gathered every second year since the children were 4 years old, from participants, parents, and teachers. The next wave of data collection, at age 22, is scheduled to begin in September 2025.
Steinsbekk uses TESS data to study health behaviors—including eating habits, physical activity, and sleep—psychosocial development and mental health from childhood through emerging adulthood. In addition to publish scientific papers, Steinsbekk is highly engaged in popular science communication. She has presented her findings on national TV, radio, podcasts, newspapers and magazines. Her research is also presented in a range of international outlets across the globe (e.g., Good Morning America, Radio New Zealand).
Steinsbekk was trained as a clinical psychologist at the University of Bergen, Norway. She completed her PhD at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where she was appointed Associate Professor in 2011. Since 2018, she has held the position of Full Professor.
Can Physical Activity Protect Against Depressive Symptoms
Depression among adolescents has been on the rise over the past decade. This makes prevention and effective treatment more important than ever—especially during the transition into adolescence, when the risk of developing depression increases sharply. We therefore posed the following research questions: Can physical activity protect against depressive symptoms? And does sedentary behavior such as screen-use increase the risk of depression?
To test this, we followed nearly 900 children from a Norwegian birth cohort. We tracked their physical activity and sedentary time using objective measures, and we assessed them every two years from age 6 to 18. Depressive symptoms were measured through clinical interviews.
Our results showed that from ages 14 to 16 and 16 to 18, declined levels of physical activity predicted more symptoms of depression. Interestingly, we didn’t see this pattern at younger ages.
We also found the reverse: Participants who showed more depressive symptoms were more likely to become less physically active. This was evident from ages 10 to 12 and 14 to 16 only.
As for sedentary time, there was no evidence to support the assumption that increased time spent in sedentary activities put adolescents at risk for depressive symptoms.
We also looked at whether athletic self-esteem, body image, or participation in sports could explain the link between physical activity and depressive symptoms—but found no support for such assumption.
In short, our findings indicate that from middle to late adolescence, physical activity may protect against depressive symptoms. And since sedentary time wasn’t related to depression, it seems the benefits of being active aren’t just the flip side of being inactive. Promoting physical activity may therefore represent a more effective strategy for supporting adolescent mental health than focusing solely on reducing screen time.
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