Highlights We aimed to assess the mental status of older adults during the COVID-19 epidemic, exploring whether meeting the World Health Organization global recommendations on physical activity for health was associated with it. Our results showed that older adults who meet the global recommendations on vigorous and moderate-vigorous physical activity had higher resilience, positive affect, and lower depressive symptoms. This is the first quantitative verification of a link between engagement in vigorous and moderate-vigorous physical activity and resilience, positive affect, and depressive symptoms in older adults within the COVID-19 restrictions.

In this study, we examined the impact of Hellison's (1995) model for the development of personal and social responsibility on fair play and self-control in youth. One hundred and eighty-six students from three public schools with a mean age of 13.6 years were assigned to one of three treatment groups: experimental group A (n 063), experimental group B (n062), and a control group (n 061). During 10 one-hour sessions of beginners' five-a-side soccer, group A went through five levels of the programme, whereas group B went through only four levels as the transferral phase was not introduced. Findings revealed that subsequent to the intervention programme, group A improved personal feedback, delayed gratification, selfcontrol, and process self-regulation. Groups A and B showed an improvement in indicators of personal and social responsibility regarding enjoyment and sportsmanship and a decrease in variables related to the drive to win, rough play, contact fouls, and poor sportsmanship. No significant changes were observed in the control group.

One of the fundamental problems facing teachers of physical education (PE) is how to increase pupils' motivation. From the point of view of goal achievement, guidelines need to be established so that information may be used to greater effect in classes. This study examined the relationship between the motivational climate created by the PE teacher and the intrinsic motivation of the preparatory sessions together with self-confidence and anxiety prior to competition and pre-and post-competition mood states. The sample was made up of school children (M age = 11.7) from a state school (N = 115), who, after an introduction to an athletics course of 12 sessions, took part in a sports competition. During this time, a teacher (trained to this effect) manipulated the motivational climate, adapting the strategies of TARGET (11,12,26,28). The mastery climate was linked to enjoyment, perceived ability, and effort in the PE classes, as well as to pre-competition somatic anxiety and post-competition vigor. On the other hand, the performance climate was associated with self-confidence, pre-competition vigor, and post-competition stress. The results are discussed in relation to achievement goal theory and motivational climate manipulation.

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Background The recent shelter-in-place order issued by the Spanish government (due to the outbreak of the COVID-19) forced the Spanish population to self-isolate at home. The psychological and social effects of this new situation are unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of such scenario on citizens’ resilience, as well as the connections between resilience, physical activity (PA), gender, weight and body mass index (BMI) before and after confinement, and COVID-19-related information. Methods A total of 1795 people answered an online questionnaire conducted on March 21st , , 2020, seven days after the mandatory shelter-in-place health order was issued. Results Results showed that individuals who regularly engaged in Vigorous PA during the first week of confinement reported higher resilience in terms of higher locus of control, higher self-efficacy, and higher optimism. Moreover, inter-personal resilience differences were observed based on gender, age groups, BMI, weight, and people living with dependent persons or under health risk conditions. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, these findings are the first quantitative evidence pointing towards a link between engagement in Vigorous PA and resilience within the COVID-19 restrictions in Spain. These findings may have important implications for general population during the course of this pandemic, or future ones.