Youth athletes sleep more, practice less, and may lose interest in playing sports due to social distancing mandates

Abstract

In-person sport participation was suspended across the United States in the spring of 2020 to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The purpose of this study was to survey the impact of COVID-19 on young athletes during a period of social and organized sports restrictions. An anonymous cross-sectional survey study was conducted of youth athletes in the midst of social distancing mandates and consisted of six components: demographics, sport participation, changes in sport-related goals/aspirations, sleep habits, and measures of anxiety and depression. 711 individuals who accessed the survey link yielded 575 (81%) participants with responses available for analysis. All respondents (aged 13.0 years) played organized sports, 62% were single-sport athletes, and 74% considered high-level. Participants were training ∼3.3 h less per week, spending more time outside, and 86% of participants continued to train while social distancing. Sleep duration increased (∼1.2 h/night) and sleep quality improved in 29% of young athletes. Additionally, 22% and 28% reported PROMIS® anxiety and depression scores characterized as ‘mild’, ‘moderate’, or ‘severe’. Older single-sport participants reported higher depression scores, while higher anxiety scores were seen in female participants with fewer years played. 10% of young athletes and 20% of teenagers changed their sports-related goals. Training style modifications, decreased training, and increased sleep quantity and quality were positive effects of COVID-19 restrictions, while athletic aspirational changes were undesirable effects. Single-sport athletes may be at greater risk for psychological symptoms when their routine is altered.

Lifestyle Changes and Baseball Activity among Youth Baseball Players before and during the First COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan

“…Youth athletes in the United States reportedly trained for 9.7 h per week on average before the pandemic. This number reduced significantly to 6.4 h per week during the pandemic [10]. Although we could not directly compare the training time because such information was unavailable in our study, we posit that the lack of team practice may have detrimentally influenced the youth baseball players.…”

“…In addition, the sleeping time during the state of emergency was significantly longer than that before the pandemic, although the change in sleeping time was only 8 min. Youth athletes in the United States reported significantly increased average sleeping time per night, from 7.9 h before the pandemic to 9.4 h during the pandemic [10]. Notably, the National Sleep Foundation in America has recommended 9-11 h of sleep daily for school-aged children [18].…”

“…Youth athletes, in particular, may have been negatively affected by the cancellation of school and sports [9]. A previous study reported that, among youth athletes, the sleeping time was higher, and the frequency of practice was lower during the pandemic compared with before the pandemic [10]. However, few studies have examined the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth athletes in specific sports.…”

Association between Covid-19 Lockdown and Sleep Health among Athletic Population: An Analytical Perspective

“…The results of the assessed articles showed conflicting or inconclusive findings. It was observed that 69% of these studies (Chandler et al, 2021;Elce et al, 2022;Filice, 2022;Kurniarobbi et al, 2022;Mon-López et al, 2020;Romdhani, Fullagar, et al, 2022;Romdhani, Rae, et al, 2022;Vinu, 2021;Vitale et al, 2021) showed reduced sleep health among athletes whereas 23% of these studies (Beranek et al, 2022;Ellis et al, 2022;Facer-Childs et al, 2021) expressed the inverse. Only 7% studies (da Silva Santos et al, 2021) portrayed no effect.…”

“…There is also a possibility that factors including limitation in exercise and physical activities, increased screen time, increase in anxiety, stress and depression due to the spread of negative news such as deaths and losses during pandemic through social media and other sources might have played a vital part in effecting athletes' sleep health (Armaou et al, 2020;Ellis et al, 2022;Facer-Childs et al, 2021). Subsequently, it was also observed that those athletes who effectively upheld their pre-Covid routines appeared to have retained sleep health (Keemss, Sieland, Pfab, & Banzer, 2022).…”