German Adolescent Physical Activity and Mental Health During COVID-19

Six-wave longitudinal data from 1,819 German adolescents aged 11 to 21 tracks self-reported physical activity alongside parent-reported mental health metrics during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The dataset, created by Steven Behn, was published on figshare in April 2026. It supports analysis of dose-response relationships between weekly activity levels and outcomes like health-related quality of life.

Use Cases

• Model the dose-response relationship between the 'PA' category (low, medium, high) and the 'health-related quality of life' KIDSCREEN-10 score using linear mixed models.
• Analyze interactions between the 'PA' variable and covariates like 'age' or 'gender' to identify subgroups where physical activity's association with 'mental health problems' (SDQ score) is stronger.
• Predict 'mental health problems' (SDQ score) based on features including 'PA', 'socioeconomic status', 'age', and 'current mental disorder' status across six time waves.
• Conduct sensitivity analysis by comparing results using the categorical 'PA' variable against a binary indicator based on WHO guidelines (≥60 min/day).

Strengths

• Longitudinal design with six waves of data collection from 1,819 participants.
• Includes multiple validated psychological instruments: KIDSCREEN-10 for quality of life and SDQ for mental health problems.
• Analysis controls for key covariates like age, gender, socioeconomic status, and current mental disorder.

Limitations

• Small dataset scale at approximately 34.0 KB, indicating aggregated summary or analysis results rather than raw individual-level data.
• Relies on self-reported physical activity and parent-reported mental health outcomes, which may introduce measurement bias.
• Geographic bias as the sample is exclusively from Germany, limiting generalizability.

Provenance

Source

German COPSY cohort study.

Collection Method

Survey data from six waves collected during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Time Range

Covers the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic period (specific years not provided).

Freshness

Data covers the pandemic and post-pandemic period, with the dataset last updated in April 2026.

Geography

Germany.