Table 4

Estimates of associations between physical activity, fitness, internalising and externalising symptoms (n=7385)

Adjusted†Unadjusted‡
Predictor variablesβ2.5% CI97.5% CIPredictor variablesβ2.5% CI97.5% CI
Model 1
PA−0.24*** −0.27−0.20PA−0.12*** −0.14−0.10
eFSM§0.07* −0.000.13eFSM§0.07−0.010.13
Sex¶0.24*** 0.190.28Sex¶0.06−0.050.18
PA*Sex0.07*** 0.030.12PA*Sex0.04*** 0.010.06
Model 2
Fit−0.23*** −0.26−0.21Fit−0.01*** −0.01−0.01
eFSM§0.03−0.040.09eFSM§0.03−0.030.09
Sex¶0.16*** 0.110.21Sex¶0.15*** 0.100.20
Model 3
PA−0.09*** −0.11−0.06PA−0.05*** −0.06−0.03
eFSM§0.22*** 0.150.29eFSM§0.22*** −0.160.29
Sex¶−0.19*** −0.24−0.14Sex¶−0.19*** −0.24−0.14
Model 4
Fit−0.07** −0.09−0.04Fit−0.003*** −0.0040.001
eFSM§0.21** 0.150.28eFSM§0.22*** 0.150.28
Sex¶−0.21*** −0.26−0.15Sex¶−0.21*** −0.26−0.16

  • †Fully adjusted multilevel model including age, sex, eFSM, nuisance covariates and school effects; physical activity/fitness, internalising and externalising scores are z-scored; internalising symptoms are square-root transformed and externalising scores are rank-inverse transformed to account for positively skewed skewed distribution.

  • ‡Unadjusted multilevel models including transformed but unscaled data for PA, fitness, sex and eFSM; controlled for school effects.

  • §Reference category: not eligible for FSM.

  • ¶Reference category: male.

  • ***p<0.001; **p<0.0125.

  • eFSM, eligible for free school meals; Fit, cardiovascular fitness; PA, physical activity.