Physical Activity and Mental Health in College Students Before and During COVID-19
Bai, Yang Burns, Ryan Ma, Conrad Curl, Azilee Hudziak, Jim Copeland, William E
Bai, Yang
Burns, Ryan
Ma, Conrad
Curl, Azilee
Hudziak, Jim
Copeland, William E
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine longitudinal physical activity (PA) before and during COVID-19 using device-based assessment in a sample of college students.
The participants were a convenience sample of first-year college students from the Wellness Environment study. A daily survey was distributed to the participants every night on a study app measured three mental health outcomes of mood, anxiety, and stress for 16 weeks. Participants wore Apple Watches to monitor PA. A total of 167 participants completed at least 50% of daily surveys and 20 days of valid Apple Watch data, which resulted in 11,387 participant-days’ of observations. Changes in average daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and step counts were examined week-over-week from an 8-week period before COVID to an 8-week period during COVID using cluster-robust piecewise regression (16-weeks total). Linear mixed models examined the association between PA and mental health outcomes, while also examining the moderating influence of COVID phase.
Description
Date
2024-09-20
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University of Wyoming Libraries
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Keywords
mental health,physical activity,COVID-19,college students