THis project is linked to dataset B2857

There is growing evidence that exercise is good for brain and mental health. We know much less about whether keeping in good physical shape during adolescence can prevent onset of mental illness later in life. Research shows that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength are associated with lower incidence of common mental disorders in adults (Baumeister et al., 2017; Hallgreen et al., 2020; Kandola, Ashdown-Franks, Stubbs, Osborn & Hayes, 2019; Kandola, Osborn, Stubbs, Choi & Hayes, 2020), but we know little about these associations in adolescents. Physical activity has been found to be a positive predictor of better mental health in students (Velten, Bieda, Scholten, Wannemüller & Jürgen, 2018), and light activity during childhood lowers the incidence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescence (Hamer, Patalay, Bell & Batty, 2020; Kandola, Lewis, Osborn, Stubbs & Hayes, 2020). This study will aim to investigate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength during adolescence with the incidence of common mental disorders later in life.