Well-being and its relationship with sports and physical activity of students during the coronavirus pandemic

Stefanie Pietsch,Stefanie Linder,Petra Jansen

doi:10.1007/s12662-021-00750-6

Stefanie Pietsch, Stefanie Linder + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12662-021-00750-6

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Abstract

The main goal of this correlational study is to examine the changes in the amount and type of physical activity of students of various study programs during the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, the motives for these changes as well as their relationship with general well-being are investigated. Therefore, 243 students (sport science, humanities, natural sciences) answered questions concerning (a) the amount and type of their physical activity before and during the pandemic, (b) their well-being and (c) their optimism/pessimism. The main result of the study is that the type and the motives for sports and physical activity changed for the study participants during the coronavirus pandemic: Team sports and swimming decreased, while individual sports and physical activity not associated with a sports club/business and with digital media increased. In this study the difference in sports and physical activity seemed to be related to well-being, especially for the students of sport science and humanities. To conclude the study indicated that a change occurred in the type of sports and physical activity as well as change in the motives for physical exercise in students during the pandemic.

Highlights

IPAQ-SF (International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form, IPAQ Research Committee, 2005)
30.9% studied sport science, 32.7% humanities and 36.3% natural sciences. 5.3% said that they suffer from psychiatric syndromes, whereas 93.8% did not suffer from any such symptoms. 90.7% practiced sport and/or physical activity regularly for extended periods of time before the pandemic and 9.3% did not
Sports activity and physical activity before and during the coronavirus pandemic The results of the IPAQ indicated a change of activity behavior between the beginning of the pandemic and during the lockdown

Summary

Introduction

IPAQ-SF (International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form, IPAQ Research Committee, 2005). This questionnaire registers the physical activity in the last 7 days. It includes seven items: how many days participants spent in intensive and moderate exercise and while walking, and how many hours and minutes the specific intensity was achieved. In addition to the registration of physical activity in the last 7 days, participants were asked to report their physical activity prior to the pandemic. The overall activity was measured in MET minutes per week by the sum: total MET minutes/ week = Mod (METs · min · days) + Vig (METs · min · days), whereby moderate intensity = 4.0 METs and vigorous intensity = 8.0 METs. In addition, three groups of participants (with low, moderate, and vigorous physical activity [PA]) were designated according to the IPAQ guidelines. The reliability of the IPAQSF is 0.80 (Spearman’s rho), criterio

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