Direct and Stress-Buffering Effects of COVID-19-Related Changes in Exercise Activity on the Well-Being of German Sport Students.

Laura Giessing,Julia Kannen,Marie Ottilie Frenkel,Jana Strahler

doi:10.3390/ijerph18137117

Abstract

Maintaining or initiating exercise activity in the COVID-19 pandemic may act as a buffer against the observed stress-related deterioration in well-being, with emotion regulation (ER) discussed as a possible moderator. Therefore, the present study investigated the interaction between stress, exercise activity (EA), and ER on mood. In an online survey, 366 German sports science students (56% women, Mage = 23.04, SD = 2.87) reported their stress levels (general and COVID-19-specific), mood (energy, valence, calmness), EA before and during the pandemic, and use of ER strategies in spring 2020. Pandemic-related change in EA was calculated as residual change. Due to gender differences in mental health and EA, the main and interaction effects were tested in twelve hierarchical regression analyses, separately for men and women. Overall, EA significantly decreased during the pandemic and was positively associated with energy in both men and women. ER was positively associated with women’s energy, but negatively with all three mood dimensions in men. Only one three-way interaction appeared significant: in the case of high stress, low levels of EA and high use of ER were associated with the greatest deteriorations in energy in men. Our findings suggest that EA may buffer deteriorations in energy in men with high stress and difficulties in ER.

Highlights

In spring 2020, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented public health measures disrupting daily life routines, which might have caused the pandemic to be a large-scale stressor for many individuals
Our results provide evidence that exercise activity was directly associated with more energy in both men and women, regardless of life stress or emotion regulation, the effects were rather small-sized
We found support for the potential of exercise activity to counteract stress-related mood deteriorations by facilitating emotion regulation in men

Summary

Introduction

In spring 2020, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented public health measures disrupting daily life routines, which might have caused the pandemic to be a large-scale stressor for many individuals. Given the welldocumented direct and stress-buffering effects of physical exercise on mental health [4,5,6], maintaining or initiating exercise activity despite the governmental restrictions may have been an important coping mechanism to counteract stress-related deteriorations in wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic [7]. The COVID-19 pandemic and related public measures have impacted mental health, and exercise engagement itself.

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