Sports and Physical Activity Attenuate the Emotional Toll of the Covid-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the alterations or restrictions of youth sports and physical activity. These changes may have had negative ramifications on anxiety and both physical and psychological readiness to return to sport in youth athletes. HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: Our purpose was to investigate the relationships between the physical and mental health ramifications on youth athletes during restricted sport activities that resulted from COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Our hypothesis was that youth athletes who participated in a similar or greater volume of organized sports would have less anxiety during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders compared with those who reported a decrease in organized sport volume. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study evaluated male and female athletes who competed in club sports (e.g., non-school sponsored) at the time of questionnaire completion. All participants completed an online questionnaire between July 15, 2020 and August 10, 2020. We asked participants to report the average hours/week they spent in organized sports or physical activity unrelated to their sport prior to COVID-19 and currently. We grouped participants on whether they had a decrease or increase/no change in their reported activity level. Participants also completed the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 192 participants (13.0±2.2 years of age; range= 6-18 years, 56% female) completed the study. On average, participants reported 2.3 (SD+5.2) fewer hours of sport training per week during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders compared to prior. Over half (56%) of participants reported a decreased training volume during stay-at-home orders, and 44% reported a similar or increased training volume (Table 1). The respondents reporting decreased training volumes had significantly greater anxiety scores than those who reported similar training volumes (Figure 1). After adjusting for the potential confounders of age, sex, and body size, decreased training volumes during stay-at-home orders were significantly associated with higher anxiety levels (β coefficient = 2.02; 95% confidence interval = 0.64, 3.41; p = 0.005). Those with decreased training volumes were more likely to report feeling undertrained (72% vs 30%, p<0.001) and less physically ready to return to sport (56% vs 88%, p<0.001) compared to those with similar/increased training volumes (Table 1). CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in decreased training volumes and higher anxiety scores (mean difference= 1.9 GAD-7 points, 95% confidence interval= 0.6, 3.2) compared with athletes who reported similar/increased training volumes. Lastly, those in the decreased training cohort felt both under-trained and less physically ready to return to sports.