Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health, physical activity, and sedentary behavior of people worldwide. According to the Health Belief Model (HBM), health-related behavior is determined by perceived barriers and motivators. Using an online survey with 1669 respondents, we sought to understand why and how physical activity and sedentary behavior has changed by querying about perceived barriers and motivators to physical activity that changed because of the pandemic, and how those changes impacted mental health. The following results were statistically significant at p < .05. Consistent with prior reports, our respondents were less physically active (aerobic activity, -11%; strength-based activity, -30%) and more sedentary (+11%) during the pandemic as compared to 6-months before. The pandemic also increased psychological stress (+22%) and brought on moderate symptoms of anxiety and depression. Respondents’ whose mental health deteriorated the most were also the ones who were least active (depression r = -.21, anxiety r = -.12). The majority of respondents were unmotivated to exercise because they were too anxious (+8%,), lacked social support (+6%), or had limited access to equipment (+23%) or space (+41%). The respondents who were able to stay active reported feeling less motivated by physical health outcomes such as weight loss (-7%) or strength (-14%) and instead more motivated by mental health outcomes such as anxiety relief (+14%). Coupled with previous work demonstrating a direct relationship between mental health and physical activity, these results highlight the potential protective effect of physical activity on mental health and point to the need for psychological support to overcome perceived barriers so that people can continue to be physically active during stressful times like the pandemic.
Highlights
IntroductionCOVID: Mental health and physical activity and closing all non-essential services [1]
During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, governing bodies worldwide took decisive action to protect their citizens against the novel coronavirus by enforcing public lockdown
A major concern is that psychological distress can quickly deteriorate into mental illness, even for people without a prior diagnosis [9]; though susceptibility varies by age [10] and income [11], with younger people and those with lower income being more susceptible
Summary
COVID: Mental health and physical activity and closing all non-essential services [1] Such measures helped to “flatten the curve” and minimize infection rates, the restrictions had significant consequences on citizens’ health and well-being in that pandemic-related concerns amplified mental distress of citizens worldwide [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. A major concern is that psychological distress can quickly deteriorate into mental illness, even for people without a prior diagnosis [9]; though susceptibility varies by age [10] and income [11], with younger people and those with lower income being more susceptible This has created an urgent need for effective interventions to help minimize the psychological burden of the pandemic and prevent a mental health crisis [12]. Thirty minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise three times weekly may be effective at reducing psychological distress and decreasing symptoms of depression and anxiety without any of the drug-related side effects such as nausea, fatigue, or loss of appetite [15, 16]
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