BACKGROUND: Understanding environmental correlates of sedentary behaviour (SB) among young people is important as such data can identify approaches to limit sedentary time. This paper estimates associations of parent-reported neighbourhood and adolescent-reported home environments with SB among adolescents aged 11-19 years from 14 countries. METHODS: In the International Physical activity and the Environment Network (IPEN) Adolescent Study (an observational, cross-sectional multi-country study), adolescents wore a triaxial accelerometer for seven days that assessed sedentary time (ST). Adolescents completed survey measures of sedentary behaviour (SB) related to recreational screen time and sitting time in motor vehicles. Parents and adolescents completed surveys assessing neighbourhood and home environments. Accelerometer based ST was available in 3,982 adolescents while survey data were available for 6,302 dyads. We estimated the total and direct effects of each environmental attribute on ST and SB. Sex of the adolescent and city/country were examined as moderators. RESULTS: The average ST in adolescents from 14 countries ranged from 7.8 to 10.5 h/day. Personal social media was the only significant correlate of total ST across both sexes. With respect to self-reported SB, adolescents accumulated an average of 3.8 h of non-school screen time per day and nearly 40 min of transport-related sitting time. Screen time was associated with all home environment variables, including social media account, as well as land use mix-diversity, traffic safety, and crime safety. Transport-related sitting time was related to land use mix-diversity, recreation facilities, walking facilities, and pedestrian infrastructure, but no home environment variables. City/country and sex were significant moderators of several associations. CONCLUSIONS: Both home and neighbourhood environment features were related to ST and SB. Having social media accounts emerged as a major contributor towards sedentarism in adolescents.

College of Health Solutions Arizona State University Phoenix AZ USA

Department of Architecture Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology Dhaka Bangladesh

Department of Movement and Sport Sciences Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Ghent University Ghent Belgium

Department of Nursing University of Valencia Valencia Spain

Department of Physical Activity and Nutrition School of Sport and Recreation Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences Auckland University of Technology Auckland New Zealand

Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics University of Southern Denmark Odense Denmark

Department of Sports Science and Physical Education The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China

Dr Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre and Madras Diabetes Research Foundation Chennai Tamil Nadu India

Faculty of Physical Culture Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc Czech Republic

Graduate School of Public Health Alma Ata University Yogyakarta Indonesia

Health Sciences Postgraduate Program Pontifícia Universidade Católica Do Paraná Curitiba Brazil

Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health University of California San Diego La Jolla USA

Institute for Physical Activity Deakin University Melbourne Australia

Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health Porto Portugal

Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research Australian Catholic University Melbourne Australia

Research Centre in Physical Activity Health and Leisure Faculty of Sport University of Porto Porto Portugal

School of Public Health Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences University of Haifa Haifa Israel

School of Public Health The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China

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