Physical activity and mental well-being under COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional multination study

Costas I Karageorghis; Jonathan M Bird; Jasmin C Hutchinson; Mark Hamer; Yvonne N Delevoye-Turrell; Ségolène M R Guérin; Elizabeth M Mullin; Kathleen T Mellano; Renee Parsons-Smith; Victoria R Terry; Peter C Terry

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-10931-5

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Physical activity and mental well-being under COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional multination study

Journal article

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Physical activity and mental well-being under COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional multination study

Costas I Karageorghis, Jonathan M Bird, Jasmin C Hutchinson, Mark Hamer, Yvonne N Delevoye-Turrell, Ségolène M R Guérin, Elizabeth M Mullin, Kathleen T Mellano, Renee Parsons-Smith, Victoria R Terry, …

BMC Public Health, Vol.21(1), pp.1-13

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10931-5

PMCID: PMC8154111

PMID: 34039306

Appears in COVID-19 Research

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Abstract

Exercise

Coronavirus

International

Mental well-being

Pandemic

COVID-19

Background COVID-19 lockdowns have reduced opportunities for physical activity (PA) and encouraged more sedentary lifestyles. A concomitant of sedentariness is compromised mental health. We investigated the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on PA, sedentary behavior, and mental health across four Western nations (USA, UK, France, and Australia). Methods An online survey was administered in the second quarter of 2020 (N = 2541). We measured planned and unplanned dimensions of PA using the Brunel Lifestyle Physical Activity Questionnaire and mental health using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Steps per day were recorded only from participants who used an electronic device for this purpose, and sedentary behavior was reported in hours per day (sitting and screen time). Results In the USA and Australia samples, there was a significant decline in planned PA from pre- to during lockdown. Among young adults, Australians exhibited the lowest planned PA scores, while in middle-aged groups, the UK recorded the highest. Young adults exhibited the largest reduction in unplanned PA. Across nations, there was a reduction of ~ 2000 steps per day. Large increases in sedentary behavior emerged during lockdown, which were most acute in young adults. Lockdown was associated with a decline in mental health that was more pronounced in women. Conclusions The findings illustrate the deleterious effects of lockdown on PA, sedentary behavior, and mental health across four Western nations. Australian young and lower middle-aged adults appeared to fare particularly badly in terms of planned PA. The reduction in steps per day is equivalent to the non-expenditure of ~ 100 kcal. Declines in mental health show how harmful lockdowns can be for women in particular.

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Title: Physical activity and mental well-being under COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional multination study
Authors: Costas I Karageorghis (Author) - Brunel University of London
Jonathan M Bird (Author) - University of Exeter
Jasmin C Hutchinson (Author) - Springfield College
Mark Hamer (Author) - University College London
Yvonne N Delevoye-Turrell (Author) - Université Lille 1
Ségolène M R Guérin (Author) - Université Lille 1
Elizabeth M Mullin (Author) - Springfield College
Kathleen T Mellano (Author) - Springfield College
Renee Parsons-Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Victoria R Terry (Author) - University of Southern Queensland
Peter C Terry (Author) - University of Southern Queensland
Publication details: BMC Public Health, Vol.21(1), pp.1-13
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-10931-5
ISSN: 1471-2458
PMID: 34039306; PMC8154111
Copyright note: © The Author(s). 2021 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99534605902621
Output Type: Journal article

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