A Mental Health Paradox: Mental health was both a motivator and barrier to physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health, physical activity, and sedentary behavior of citizens worldwide. Using an online survey with 1669 respondents, we sought to understand why and how by querying about perceived barriers and motivators to physical activity that changed because of the pandemic, and how those changes impacted mental health. Consistent with prior reports, our respondents were less physically active (aerobic activity, −11%, p <0.05; strength-based activity, −30%, p<0.01) and more sedentary (+11%, p<0.01) during the pandemic as compared to 6-months before. The pandemic also increased psychological stress (+22%, p <0.01) and brought on moderate symptoms of anxiety and depression. Respondents’ whose mental health deteriorated the most were also the ones who were least active (depression r = −.21, p<0.01; anxiety r = −.12, p<0.01). The majority of respondents were unmotivated to exercise because they were too anxious (+8%, p <0.01), lacked social support (+6%, p =<0.01), or had limited access to equipment (+23%, p <0.01) or space (+41%, p <0.01). The respondents who were able to stay active reported feeling less motivated by physical health outcomes such as weight loss (−7%, p<0.01) or strength (−14%, p<0.01) and instead more motivated by mental health outcomes such as anxiety relief (+14%, p <0.01). Coupled with previous work demonstrating a direct relationship between mental health and physical activity, these results highlight the potential protective effect of physical activity on mental health and point to the need for psychological support to overcome perceived barriers so that people can continue to be physically active during stressful times like the pandemic.

Change in mental health, physical health, and social relationships during highly restrictive lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Australia

“…Our finding of significant associations between frequency of exercise, physical well-being and emotional well-being are consistent with other studies conducted during the pandemic that indicate lockdown experiences can disrupt and reduce exercise routines, which can have flow on effects for reducing physical and mental wellbeing (Brand et al, 2020;Ebrahimi et al, 2020;Galle et al, 2020;Marashi et al, 2020). Therefore, in any future pandemic scenario it would be useful for both broad scale interventions (e.g., public service announcements) and individual interventions conducted by mental health practitioners to promote healthy exercise and diet practices.…”

“…Another reason is that some individuals may have increased exercise (with more time on their hands) that cancels out those exercising less. Consistent with other recent studies (Brand et al, 2020;Ebrahimi et al, 2020;Galle et al, 2020;Marashi et al, 2020), we found a link between frequency of exercise and well-being suggesting that keeping physically active can potentially act as a buffer for stress during lock-down.…”

“…Additionally, the pandemic appears to be a largely negative experience for many people around the world (Benke et al, 2020;Ebrahimi et al, 2020;Fiorenzato et al, 2020;Gao et al, 2020;Hamadani et al, 2020;Holman et al, 2020;Huang & Zhao, 2020;Kalaitzaki, 2020;Lee, 2020;Marashi et al, 2020;Mazza et al, 2020;Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al, 2020;Qiu et al, 2020;Roy et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020; Zacher & Rudolph, 2020), and we have reported a substantial proportion in our sample of Australians being negatively affected during lockdown. Numerous studies have indicated that shared experiences of pain, adversity, and/or hardship have the potential to act as social bonding experiences (some examples: Bastian, Jetten, & Ferris, 2014;Bastian, Jetten, Hornsey, et al, 2014;Bastian et al, 2018;Breslin, 2019;Shaw et al, 2020).…”

“…Quarantine (lockdown) actions during prior pandemics such as SARS and MERS have been found to negatively affect psychological well-being (Brooks et al, 2020). Emerging research on people's experience during COVID-19 lockdowns around the world are producing similar findings of increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression (Benke et al, 2020;Ebrahimi et al, 2020;Fiorenzato et al, 2020;Gao et al, 2020;Hamadani et al, 2020;Holman et al, 2020;Huang & Zhao, 2020;Kalaitzaki, 2020;Lee, 2020;Marashi et al, 2020;Mazza et al, 2020;Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al, 2020;Qiu et al, 2020;Roy et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020;Zacher & Rudolph, 2020). Some of these researchers have considered how preoccupation with COVID-19 and increased social media exposure contribute to COVID-19 stress (Gao et al, 2020;Holman et al, 2020;Hsiang et al, 2020;Lee, 2020;Roy et al, 2020).…”

“…Other researchers have reported how people with pre-existing medical problems (Mazza et al, 2020) or chronic disease (Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al, 2020) are more likely to have exacerbated stress levels worrying about COVID-19 compared to more healthy individuals. While keeping physically healthy, by keeping physically active during lockdown, has been reported to be a protective factor against stress (Brand et al, 2020;Ebrahimi et al, 2020;Galle et al, 2020;Marashi et al, 2020). In a survey of 10084 people from Norway Ebrahimi et al (2020) found that those people engaging in higher frequency of physical activity during lockdown were more likely to report lower levels of depression.…”