A meta-analytic review of the within-person association between daily physical activity and sedentary time with subjective wellbeing

Abstract

There is consistent research evidence demonstrating that physical activity and sedentary time are related to mental health and subjective wellbeing outcomes. Existing syntheses have examined the between-person association, the results of which cannot be extrapolated to the experiences of individuals. The aim of the current meta-analysis was to synthesise the within-person correlation between daily physical activity and sedentary behaviours with daily subjective wellbeing. Four databases were searched with keywords for physical activity and sedentary behaviours, subjective wellbeing, and intensive longitudinal study designs. A correlated and hierarchical random effects meta-analysis was used to synthesise the results. Seventy-six unique studies reporting on 13,768 participants were included. There was a significant positive within-person correlation between general physical activity (r = 0.13) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (r = 0.11) with subjective wellbeing, and a significant negative within-person correlation between sedentary time and subjective wellbeing (r = −0.19). Results from moderation analyses demonstrated that the association was significantly weaker between general physical activity and subjective wellbeing when considering the association with negative affect compared to other subjective wellbeing outcomes. This review provides novel insights into the association between physical activity and sedentary time with subjective wellbeing. Implications of findings and areas that warrant future research interest are discussed.