Does Increased Physical Activity Explain the Psychosocial Benefits of Sport Participation During COVID-19?

Abstract

Context: Although the return to sports during COVID-19 has been associated with improvements in mental health and quality of life (QOL), whether these benefits are primarily due to increases in physical activity (PA) is unknown. Objective: To determine whether PA increases were responsible for the improvements in mental health and QOL among adolescents who returned to sport during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Wisconsin secondary schools. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 559 adolescent athletes (age = 15.7 + 1.2 years, females = 43.6%) from 44 schools completed a survey in October 2020. Main Outcome Measure(s): Demographic information, whether they had returned to sport participation, school instruction type, anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), QOL (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0), and PA (Hospital for Special Surgery Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale). Mediation analysis was used to assess whether the relationships between sport status and anxiety, depression, and QOL were mediated by PA. Results: At the time of the study, 171 (31%) had returned to play and 388 (69%) had not. Athletes who had returned to play had less anxiety (3.6 ± 0.4 versus 8.2 ± 0.6, P