Frequency of physical activity and stress levels among Brazilian adults during social distancing due to the coronavirus (COVID-19): cross-sectional study

Abstract

BACKGROUND:The COVID-19 pandemic may be having many psychological impacts on people, at both an individual and a community level. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the relationship between the weekly frequency of physical activity and levels of stress among Brazilian adults during social distancing due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), and the interaction of sex in this association. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study with a descriptive approach conducted at a public university in Curitiba (PR), Brazil. METHODS: 2,000 Brazilian adults (average age 36.4 years; 59.6% women) were recruited according to convenience through digital media. They filled out a questionnaire in electronic format that asked for sociodemographic information, health data, food consumption data, weekly frequency of physical activity and stress levels on the 10-item Kessler psychological distress scale. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were used to evaluate the data. RESULTS: Associations were observed for the following correlations: male sex * no physical activity (odds ratio (OR): 4.35; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14-16.67); female sex * physical activity 4 or 5 times a week (OR: 7.86; 95% CI: 2.28-27.05); female sex * physical activity 3 times a week (OR: 7.32; 95% CI: 2.09-25.58); female sex * physical activity 1 or 2 times a week (OR: 14.57; 95% CI: 4.28-49.57); and female sex * no physical activity (OR: 24.17; 95% CI: 7.21-80.97). CONCLUSION: The lower the weekly frequency of physical activity during the period of social distancing was, the greater the chances of having stress levels were, especially for women.

Maintenance of Mental Health: The Role of Physical Activity Among Young Adults

“…Gender differences in perceived stress were modest but significant, with female students reporting higher stress levels than males. This is consistent with prior research indicating that women may experience greater emotional reactivity to academic and social stressors [ 14 ]. Potential explanations for higher stress levels among female students include greater reliance on emotion-focused coping and the more frequent use of strategies such as self-distraction, emotional support, instrumental support, and venting [ 40 ].…”

Maintenance of Mental Health: The Role of Physical Activity Among Young Adults

“…Gender differences in perceived stress were modest but significant, with female students reporting higher stress levels than males. This is consistent with prior research indicating that women may experience greater emotional reactivity to academic and social stressors [ 14 ]. Potential explanations for higher stress levels among female students include greater reliance on emotion-focused coping and the more frequent use of strategies such as self-distraction, emotional support, instrumental support, and venting [ 40 ].…”

Physical activity level and factors associated with perceived stress among Peruvian university professors during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Preview literature recognizes the value and impact of PA on health [ 49 ]. Although the levels of low and high PA found in this study are worrying, the results are consistent with the insufficiently active profile of university professors, even before the pandemic [ 42 , 43 , 50 ] while, at the same time, being better than that of inhabitants of the Peruvian highlands in which low and high PA levels reach 66.2% and 5.6%, respectively [ 51 ]. In addition, if we compare the proportion of professors with high PA to that of professors from Lima (37%) [ 52 ], there are discrepancies possibly attributed to the requirement of the level of teaching and administrative load [ 53 ], characteristics that affect the availability of free time to carry out personal life activities [ 18 , 48 ].…”

“…We have to considered that this figure did not include non-schooled hours, it meant that this difference could be attributed to extra-worked hours (educational material, design of educative test, etc.) and mainly non-paid back hours; nonetheless, this percentage is similar to the average reported in Brazilian professors [ 42 , 43 ].…”

“…The participants in this study were predominantly male, similar to the national proportion of university professors [ 39 ], and other studies [ 40 , 41 ] but different from the studies by Leire et al, Freitas et al and Camargo et al, in which women exceeded 50% of the study participants. The median age was around 52 years old, which contrasts with the national average age of professors [ 39 ] and other studies describing the age as being around the 4th decade of life [ 15 , [41] , [42] , [43] ]. These results are expected and partly explained by the current requirements of university teaching, requiring greater experience and trajectory, which are characteristics acquired over time, especially among professors of public universities [ 9 ].…”

Relações entre os cuidados com a saúde e atividade física durante o confinamento na pandemia da covid-19: uma revisão sistemática integrativa

“…Dessa forma, diante do cenário pandêmico, estes trabalhos recorreram a formulários online, mídias sociais, dentre outros meios digitais/tecnológicos para conseguir alcançar o respectivo público. A maioria dos trabalhos constatou índice reduzido de atividades físicas no período do isolamento social, ocasio-nado pela pandemia da COVID-19 (Puccinelli et al;Camargo et al, 2021). Associado a isso, os estudos apontavam doenças tais como obesidade, ansiedade, depressão, aumento do sedentarismo etc.…”

Maintenance of Mental Health: The Role of Physical Activity Among Young Adults

“…Gender differences in perceived stress were modest but significant, with female students reporting higher stress levels than males. This is consistent with prior research indicating that women may experience greater emotional reactivity to academic and social stressors [ 14 ]. Potential explanations for higher stress levels among female students include greater reliance on emotion-focused coping and the more frequent use of strategies such as self-distraction, emotional support, instrumental support, and venting [ 40 ].…”

Physical activity level and factors associated with perceived stress among Peruvian university professors during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Preview literature recognizes the value and impact of PA on health [ 49 ]. Although the levels of low and high PA found in this study are worrying, the results are consistent with the insufficiently active profile of university professors, even before the pandemic [ 42 , 43 , 50 ] while, at the same time, being better than that of inhabitants of the Peruvian highlands in which low and high PA levels reach 66.2% and 5.6%, respectively [ 51 ]. In addition, if we compare the proportion of professors with high PA to that of professors from Lima (37%) [ 52 ], there are discrepancies possibly attributed to the requirement of the level of teaching and administrative load [ 53 ], characteristics that affect the availability of free time to carry out personal life activities [ 18 , 48 ].…”

“…We have to considered that this figure did not include non-schooled hours, it meant that this difference could be attributed to extra-worked hours (educational material, design of educative test, etc.) and mainly non-paid back hours; nonetheless, this percentage is similar to the average reported in Brazilian professors [ 42 , 43 ].…”

“…The participants in this study were predominantly male, similar to the national proportion of university professors [ 39 ], and other studies [ 40 , 41 ] but different from the studies by Leire et al, Freitas et al and Camargo et al, in which women exceeded 50% of the study participants. The median age was around 52 years old, which contrasts with the national average age of professors [ 39 ] and other studies describing the age as being around the 4th decade of life [ 15 , [41] , [42] , [43] ]. These results are expected and partly explained by the current requirements of university teaching, requiring greater experience and trajectory, which are characteristics acquired over time, especially among professors of public universities [ 9 ].…”

Relações entre os cuidados com a saúde e atividade física durante o confinamento na pandemia da covid-19: uma revisão sistemática integrativa

“…Dessa forma, diante do cenário pandêmico, estes trabalhos recorreram a formulários online, mídias sociais, dentre outros meios digitais/tecnológicos para conseguir alcançar o respectivo público. A maioria dos trabalhos constatou índice reduzido de atividades físicas no período do isolamento social, ocasio-nado pela pandemia da COVID-19 (Puccinelli et al;Camargo et al, 2021). Associado a isso, os estudos apontavam doenças tais como obesidade, ansiedade, depressão, aumento do sedentarismo etc.…”

Maintenance of Mental Health: The Role of Physical Activity Among Young Adults

“…Gender differences in perceived stress were modest but significant, with female students reporting higher stress levels than males. This is consistent with prior research indicating that women may experience greater emotional reactivity to academic and social stressors [ 14 ]. Potential explanations for higher stress levels among female students include greater reliance on emotion-focused coping and the more frequent use of strategies such as self-distraction, emotional support, instrumental support, and venting [ 40 ].…”

Physical activity level and factors associated with perceived stress among Peruvian university professors during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Preview literature recognizes the value and impact of PA on health [ 49 ]. Although the levels of low and high PA found in this study are worrying, the results are consistent with the insufficiently active profile of university professors, even before the pandemic [ 42 , 43 , 50 ] while, at the same time, being better than that of inhabitants of the Peruvian highlands in which low and high PA levels reach 66.2% and 5.6%, respectively [ 51 ]. In addition, if we compare the proportion of professors with high PA to that of professors from Lima (37%) [ 52 ], there are discrepancies possibly attributed to the requirement of the level of teaching and administrative load [ 53 ], characteristics that affect the availability of free time to carry out personal life activities [ 18 , 48 ].…”

“…We have to considered that this figure did not include non-schooled hours, it meant that this difference could be attributed to extra-worked hours (educational material, design of educative test, etc.) and mainly non-paid back hours; nonetheless, this percentage is similar to the average reported in Brazilian professors [ 42 , 43 ].…”

“…The participants in this study were predominantly male, similar to the national proportion of university professors [ 39 ], and other studies [ 40 , 41 ] but different from the studies by Leire et al, Freitas et al and Camargo et al, in which women exceeded 50% of the study participants. The median age was around 52 years old, which contrasts with the national average age of professors [ 39 ] and other studies describing the age as being around the 4th decade of life [ 15 , [41] , [42] , [43] ]. These results are expected and partly explained by the current requirements of university teaching, requiring greater experience and trajectory, which are characteristics acquired over time, especially among professors of public universities [ 9 ].…”

Relações entre os cuidados com a saúde e atividade física durante o confinamento na pandemia da covid-19: uma revisão sistemática integrativa

“…Dessa forma, diante do cenário pandêmico, estes trabalhos recorreram a formulários online, mídias sociais, dentre outros meios digitais/tecnológicos para conseguir alcançar o respectivo público. A maioria dos trabalhos constatou índice reduzido de atividades físicas no período do isolamento social, ocasio-nado pela pandemia da COVID-19 (Puccinelli et al;Camargo et al, 2021). Associado a isso, os estudos apontavam doenças tais como obesidade, ansiedade, depressão, aumento do sedentarismo etc.…”