Cross-Sectional Study of Self-Concept and Gender in Relation to Physical Activity and Martial Arts in Spanish Adolescents during the COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

The COVID-19 lockdown has negatively affected individuals’ welfare. However, there has been no research published heretofore about the levels of self-concept (SC) in adolescents, nor how having practised martial arts (MA) or any physical activity (PA) before the lockdown may have influenced the SC in that time. Hence, this study aimed to analyze some demographic, physical, and psychosocial parameters in Spanish adolescents throughout the COVID-19 quarantine through a cross-sectional investigation, establishing correlations among these factors. Methods: The present study had a descriptive, comparative, and cross-sectional design. The sample comprised of 54 (39.7%) male and 82 (60.3%) female Spanish adolescents aged 12–18 (M = 14.49; SD = 1.80). An ad-hoc questionnaire collected sociodemographic data; the self-concept Form 5 (AF5) questionnaire obtained data on SC dimensions. Results: There were some differences among the SC dimensions, with family and academic dimensions having higher values than the physical and emotional ones. Females’ academic SC was higher than that of males (p = 0.019). The practice of PA before the lockdown was positively associated with physical (p < 0.001) and social (p = 0.012) SC, yet there was no significant association between the previous practice of MA and SC (p > 0.050). Conclusions: the findings suggest that the COVID-19 lockdown negatively affected Spanish adolescents by decreasing their total SC and some dimensions of it, although PA may buffer psychological harmfulness in adolescents.

Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the movement behaviors of children and youth: A scoping review of evidence after the first year

“… 81 Furthermore, children engaging in greater PA levels were less likely to exhibit hyperactivity-inattention and more likely to display prosocial behaviors. 124 PA was positively associated with mood, 85 , 87 physical, social, and academic self-concept, 128 , 168 and changes in subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. 169 …”

“… 99 The remaining studies relied on nonvalidated measures of PA through self-reported questionnaires constructed by the researchers. These questionnaires quantified PA behaviors using several approaches, including subjective reporting of changes, 72 , 78 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 daily duration of PA, 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 days per week with at least 60 min of MVPA, 71 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 or frequency of weekly PA, 125 weekly PA duration, 76 , 77 , 118 , 126 outdoor activity, 78 , 116 , 119 , 127 ±3 h of PA per week, 128 , 129 percentage of time spent in PA, 130 , 131 or other means, as detailed in the list of included studies in Supplementary File 5. We identified 3 secondary data analyses.…”

An explanatory model of the relationships between sport motivation, anxiety and physical and social self-concept in educational sciences students

“…According to the theoretical model proposed by Shavelson et al (1976), self-concept is represented as a multidimensional construct with five areas: academic, emotional, family, physical and social. Focusing attention on these last two types, social selfconcept can be defined as the perception that each subject has of himself/herself about his/her social skills with respect to interactions with peers (Lindell-Postigo et al, 2020) and physical self-concept is defined as the perception that people have of their physical appearance (Putnick et al, 2020). The study carried out by Fernández-Bustos et al (2015), argues that physical self-concept has an impact on social self-concept, as certain social groups carry out a discriminatory process based on perceived physical appearance.…”

Lockdown Experiences of 10–13 Year Olds in New Zealand

“…Studies that have examined children’s self-concept in relation to lockdowns is scarce in the literature. Lindell-Postigo et al ( 2020 ) examined self-concept of 136 Spanish adolescents (12–18 years) in relation to their physical activity during lockdown. The results suggested that children.…”