Effects of social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in daily activity: A case study of physical education students

Abstract

Background: The study sought to describe student time use and to analyse the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (lockdown) on changes in the time use and their role within the context of health and social aspects. Material & Methods: The research was carried out every year from 2017 to 2020 in the same period of time. The study included 340 students of physical education. In their time budget diaries, the participants noted down the amount of time devoted to activities performed in a typical week. Results: The study showed that during the lockdown, students devoted less time to sports training, social meetings or cultural activities as compared to previous years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of time devoted to the majority of activities was different on weekdays and at weekends. The results also showed that women devoted more time to personal hygiene and individual study, while men spent more time doing sports training. Conclusions: The crisis sparked off by COVID-19 resulted in considerable changes in student time use. The findings show that the allocation of time to various activities depends on gender, days of the week, legal regulations and recipients.