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一项跨越三十多年的澳大利亚研究发现，童年时期的心肺适能与成年后的抑郁风险存在关联。这种长期研究提供了哪些证据，又为什么仍不能证明因果关系？

正文

Can a run completed in childhood tell us something about mental health many years later? A new Australian study suggests that it may offer one small clue. However, the researchers are careful not to say that childhood fitness directly prevents depression.

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童年完成的一次跑步测试，能告诉我们多年后心理健康的一些情况吗？一项新的澳大利亚研究表明，它可能提供一条小线索。不过，研究人员谨慎地避免声称童年体能可以直接预防抑郁症。

The study began with a national group of Australian children in 1985. They were between 7 and 15 years old. More than 1,000 of them completed a 1.6-kilometre run and a standing long jump. The run measured how well the heart and lungs supported activity, while the jump measured muscular power. A smaller group also took cycling and hand-strength tests.

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研究始于1985年，参与者来自澳大利亚全国的一组儿童，当时年龄在7至15岁之间。其中1000多人完成了1.6公里跑步和立定跳远。跑步衡量心脏与肺部支持身体活动的能力，跳远则衡量肌肉力量。一个较小的组还接受了骑车和握力测试。

More than three decades later, the participants were 36 to 49 years old. Researchers used a standard World Health Organization interview to learn whether they had experienced depression during their lives. The long period between the first tests and the later interviews gave the team a rare chance to compare childhood fitness with adult mental health.

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三十多年后，参与者年龄已在36至49岁之间。研究人员采用世界卫生组织的标准访谈，了解他们一生中是否经历过抑郁症。最初测试与后来访谈之间的漫长时间，为团队提供了难得的机会，将童年体能与成年后的心理健康进行比较。

The clearest pattern concerned the running test. Children who ran faster had a lower risk of depression as adults. The connection appeared stronger among females than males. By comparison, the links between muscular fitness and depression were weaker and were not statistically clear. This difference suggests that all kinds of fitness should not be treated as the same measure.

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最清晰的规律与跑步测试有关。跑得更快的儿童，成年后患抑郁症的风险更低。这种关联在女性中似乎比男性更强。相比之下，肌肉适能与抑郁症之间的联系较弱，在统计上并不明确。这种差异提示，不应把各种体能都视作同一种衡量指标。

Still, the results do not prove cause and effect. Children who were fitter may also have differed in family life, health, money, sleep or social support. Some of these factors might influence both fitness and depression. Adult participants also had to remember mental health experiences from earlier years. Such limits make it impossible to conclude that running faster was the reason some people avoided depression.

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不过，这些结果不能证明因果关系。体能较好的儿童，也可能在家庭生活、健康、经济状况、睡眠或社会支持方面有所不同。其中一些因素可能同时影响体能和抑郁症。成年参与者还必须回忆多年前的心理健康经历。这些局限使人们无法断言，跑得更快就是某些人避免抑郁症的原因。

The study is useful because of its length and its use of physical tests rather than childhood memories alone. Yet it followed one Australian group that was first tested more than 40 years ago. Daily life, schools and exercise habits have changed since then, so the same relationship may not look identical in every place or generation.

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这项研究的价值在于持续时间长，并且使用了身体测试，而不只是依赖对童年的回忆。不过，它追踪的是一个在40多年前首次接受测试的澳大利亚群体。此后，日常生活、学校和运动习惯都已改变，因此同样的关系未必在每个地方或每一代人中都完全一致。

The finding therefore adds a piece to a larger picture. Childhood fitness may be linked with mental health far into adulthood, especially for girls, but it is only one possible factor. The researchers say further studies are needed to learn whether the link is truly causal and how it works. For now, the long study offers evidence of an association, not a promise about any one person’s future.

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因此，这项发现为更大的图景补充了一块拼图。童年体能可能与成年后很久的心理健康相关，尤其对女孩而言，但它只是一个可能因素。研究人员表示，还需要进一步研究，了解这种联系是否确实具有因果性，以及它如何产生。目前，这项长期研究提供的是关联证据，而不是对任何一个人未来的保证。

新闻来源

• Euronews · Could teenage fitness shape your mental health decades later? New research suggests it might
• Euronews · La forme physique à l’adolescence pourrait-elle influencer la santé mentale des décennies plus tard?
• PubMed · The long run: Fitness during childhood and adolescence and its association with adult depression

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