title: Moderating effect of gender on the prospective relation of physical activity with psychosocial outcomes and asthma control in adolescents: a longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Adolescents with asthma experience more psychosocial and physiological problems compared to their healthy peers. Physical activity (PA) might decrease these problems. This study was the first observational longitudinal study to examine whether habitual PA could predict changes in psychosocial outcomes (i.e., symptoms of anxiety and depression, quality of life [QOL] and stress) and asthma control over time in adolescents with asthma and whether gender moderated these relationships.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adolescents with asthma (N = 253; aged 10-14 years at baseline) were visited at home in the spring/summer of 2012 and 2013. They completed questionnaires assessing their habitual PA, symptoms of anxiety and depression, QOL, perceived stress and asthma control. Path analyses using Mplus were conducted to examine longitudinal relationships among habitual PA, psychosocial outcomes and asthma control (controlled for body mass index, age and gender). Using multi-group analyses, we examined whether gender moderated these relationships.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Path analyses in the total group showed that habitual PA did not predict changes in psychosocial outcomes or asthma control over time. Multi-group analyses showed that gender moderated the relation of habitual PA with anxiety and depression. Habitual PA only significantly predicted a decrease in anxiety and depression over time for girls but not for boys.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing habitual PA in girls with asthma might decrease their symptoms of anxiety and depression.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Sciences, Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University Nijmegen , Nijmegen , The Netherlands and.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tiggelman
authors.forename: Monique O M
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: van de Ven
authors.forename: Onno C P
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: van Schayck
authors.forename: Rutger C M E
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Engels
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Anxiety/depression; asthma control; chronic disease; quality of life; sports; stress; youth