The impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on physical activity and mental health status of Iranian people

Abstract

Background Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease caused by acute respiratory syndrome that can negatively impact physical activity as well as mental health of people in the world. Since Iran is one of the countries deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on physical activity behaviours, as well as on mental health indicators among Iranian people. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 335 participants were included (155 males, mean age = 30.06 ± 14.58 years). Participants were selected through the convenience sampling from different parts of Iran mainly through virtual social networks and filled out an electronic questionnaire in the form of Google Form online survey measuring physical activity behaviours (The International Physical Activity Questionnaire; IPAQ; Short Form) and two mental health indicators–self-esteem (Rosenberg self-esteem scale) and social physical anxiety (7-items social physique anxiety scale). The questionnaires were provided to the participants in the spring of 2021 for 15 days and they were asked to answer it in two periods before the outbreak of coronavirus (winter 2020) and the period during the outbreak of coronavirus (spring 2021). Results The results showed that participants reported significant differences from before to during the pandemic in all three variables of physical activity (significant decreases), self-esteem (significant decreases), and social physical anxiety (significant increases) regardless of participants’ gender. The results of correlation test between changes in physical activity and changes in mental health indicators showed that COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted self-esteem and social physical anxiety. However, we have not found any significant association of physical activity’s change with social physical anxiety or self-esteem’s changes before and during the pandemic. Conclusions The findings of the present study indicate a detrimental effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical activity and mental health among Iranian people. Public policies aiming to buffer the negative impact on COVID-19 Iranians’ health are urgently needed.

Factors affecting decreased physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic: an age-, gender-, and body mass index-matched study

“…Multiple studies have supported this hypothesis, which has repeatedly shown a decrease in PA during restriction periods (24)(25)(26)(27). Countries around the world are addressing PA as a result of COVID-19, and research is linking it to physical, psychological, and mental health (28)(29)(30)(31)(32).…”

Association between physical activity and adolescent mental health in the post COVID-19: The chain mediating effect of self-esteem and social anxiety

“…Most studies show that the decrease of physical activity during the COVID-19 period may lead to mental health problems of adolescents [2]. Some studies also show that there is a no significant relationship between physical activity changes and other psychological indicators during the COVID-19 period [6]. This study explored the changes in the relationship between physical activity and mental health of the two groups based on whether they were infected with COVID-19.…”

“…Research has shown that COVID-19 is associated with lower levels of physical activity, lower self-esteem, and higher social anxiety. Whether the relationship between the change of physical activity level and self-esteem, social anxiety has changed after the COVID-19 epidemic deserves further exploration [6]. Therefore, this paper explores the internal relationship between physical activity and mental health of adolescents after the COVID-19 epidemic, and whether social anxiety and self-esteem mediate these relationships.…”

“…Kliziene found that physical education courses have a good effect on physical anxiety, personality anxiety and social anxiety by studying the impact of physical education courses on the physical activity and emotional health of pupils for four months [20]. A study have shown that the isolation state during the COVID-19 epidemic reduced people's social interaction, leading to a significant increase in people's social anxiety, while changes in physical activity did not affect social anxiety [6]. There are differences in the impact of changes in physical activity on social anxiety between the epidemic period and the non epidemic period, so whether changes in physical activity after the COVID-19 epidemic can affect social anxiety, and whether social anxiety plays a mediating role between youth sports activities and mental health is worth further exploring.…”

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on Body Mass Index: a three-year follow up study in 6,156 Chinese college students

“…However, researches showed that the lockdown during the pandemic would induce the negative change in eating habits, lifestyle, and health conditions ( 8 – 11 ). Study showed that there are significant differences from before to during the pandemic in people’s physical activity (significant decreases), self-esteem (significant decreases), and social physical anxiety (significant increases) regardless of their gender due to the restrictions ( 12 ). People also experienced different degrees of disruption in their daily routines and physical activity during the pandemic ( 13 ).…”