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The aim of this study was to examine and test the possible directions of the relationships between leisure-time physical activity and depressed mood.

A 10-year longitudinal study with a sample of 924 adolescents was conducted, and data were collected 8 times from the age of 13 years to the age of 23 years. The data were analysed using multivariate latent curve modelling.

Leisure-time physical activity and depressed mood covary inversely through adolescence. However, baseline levels of leisure-time physical activity do not predict later changes in depressed mood, and baseline levels of depressed mood do not predict later changes in leisure-time physical activity.

Changes in leisure-time physical activity and depressed mood are related, but the results do not provide support for the common assumption that a high early level of physical activity protects against …