Lifestyle factors moderate emotion–gait coupling in young adults

The current study investigated whether physical activity, sleep quality, nutritional patterns, and their composite moderate mood-gait relationships in healthy young adults. Participants completed a baseline assessment and over the course of the semester up to five repeated walking gait and mood assessments. At baseline, participants completed self-reported measures of current physical activity levels (IPAQ), sleep quality over the past month (PSQI), and nutritional intake (24-hour dietary recall). Of the 16 participants enrolled, 15 completed baseline surveys, and all completed at least two gait assessments. Most participants demonstrated moderate-to-high physical activity levels, with 86.7% meeting aerobic and 73.43% meeting resistance training guidelines. Sleep quality varied widely. Moderation analyses, accounting for visit number, identified three significant interactions after false discovery rate correction, all involving the gait rhythm domain. Higher baseline physical activity levels (both total MET-minutes and WHO physical activity category) attenuated the relationship between positive emotions and gait rhythm, suggesting that active individuals maintain more stable gait timing regardless of emotional state. Higher protein intake strengthened the association between negative emotions and gait rhythm. Three additional interactions, including a lifestyle composite score, showed trend-level effects (raw p < .012) warranting replication. These findings highlight the influence of lifestyle factors on emotion-related gait variability and indicate how modifiable health behaviors may influence emotion-locomotion coupling.