Table 2.
Fixed effects models testing associations between changes in time spent on leisure activities and changes in mental health and well-being across the follow-up period (6 April 2020–6 September 2020)
| Depressive symptoms | Anxiety symptoms | Life satisfaction | ||||
| Coef (95% CI) | P value | Coef (95% CI) | P value | Coef (95% CI) | P value | |
| Reading for pleasure | ||||||
| Low | 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.05) | 0.548 | 0.02 (−0.02 to 0.06) | 0.283 | 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.06) | 0.531 |
| High | 0.02 (−0.02 to 0.06) | 0.311 | 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.05) | 0.610 | 0.01 (−0.04 to 0.06) | 0.648 |
| Arts/crafts | ||||||
| Low | 0.04 (0.00 to 0.08) | 0.083 | 0.01 (−0.02 to 0.05) | 0.416 | −0.01 (−0.06 to 0.04) | 0.730 |
| High | 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.06) | 0.579 | −0.01 (−0.06 to 0.03) | 0.621 | 0.06 (0.00 to 0.11) | 0.034 |
| Digital arts | ||||||
| Low | 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.06) | 0.582 | −0.01 (−0.04 to 0.03) | 0.753 | −0.04 (−0.09 to 0.02) | 0.180 |
| High | 0.04 (−0.03 to 0.10) | 0.251 | 0.04 (−0.01 to 0.09) | 0.161 | −0.05 (−0.12 to 0.02) | 0.166 |
| Gardening | ||||||
| Low | −0.07 (−0.11 to 0.02) | 0.003 | −0.05 (−0.09 to 0.01) | 0.015 | 0.04 (−0.01 to 0.09) | 0.107 |
| High | −0.05 (−0.09 to 0.00) | 0.046 | 0.00 (−0.06 to 0.05) | 0.882 | 0.06 (0.00 to 0.12) | 0.043 |
| Watching television | ||||||
| Low | 0.04 (−0.01 to 0.09) | 0.148 | −0.02 (−0.07 to 0.03) | 0.457 | 0.00 (−0.07 to 0.06) | 0.948 |
| High | 0.06 (0.01 to 0.10) | 0.010 | −0.02 (−0.06 to 0.03) | 0.479 | −0.01 (−0.06 to 0.04) | 0.785 |
| Listening to music | ||||||
| Low | −0.01 (−0.04 to 0.03) | 0.725 | −0.01 (−0.04 to 0.02) | 0.407 | 0.00 (−0.04 to 0.04) | 0.927 |
| High | −0.02 (−0.06 to 0.02) | 0.346 | −0.01 (−0.05 to 0.02) | 0.457 | 0.00 (−0.04 to 0.04) | 0.870 |
| Woodwork/DIY | ||||||
| Low | 0.02 (−0.05 to 0.08) | 0.604 | 0.02 (−0.05 to 0.08) | 0.619 | −0.04 (−0.10 to 0.03) | 0.260 |
| High | 0.00 (−0.05 to 0.05) | 0.984 | −0.02 (−0.07 to 0.03) | 0.428 | 0.11 (0.03 to 0.18) | 0.004 |
| Other hobbies | ||||||
| Low | 0.02 (−0.03 to 0.07) | 0.376 | 0.03 (−0.02 to 0.07) | 0.235 | −0.04 (−0.09 to 0.02) | 0.158 |
| High | 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.06) | 0.577 | 0.00 (−0.04 to 0.05) | 0.858 | −0.02 (−0.09 to 0.04) | 0.438 |
Note. Time spent doing activities measured on the last weekday. Low=less than 30 min doing activity during the day. High=30 min or more spent on activity during the day. Both low and high were compared with doing none of this activity. Outcomes were standardised, so coefficients represent changes in SD units. Bold text indicates p<0.05. Fixed effects analysis does not test the direction of associations, so we cannot conclude that changes in leisure activities lead to subsequent changes in mental health and well-being.