scholarly journals Mental Health, Resilience and Sports Activity in the Initial Phase of The First COVID-19 Lockdown in Germany

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Strahler ◽  
Konrad Smolinski ◽  
Karsten Krüger ◽  
Britta Krüger
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Direct Effect ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
Sports Activity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Mental Health Patient ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Stress Buffering ◽  
Beneficial Effects

Abstract Background Quarantine and social-distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic situation resulted in a radical change in lifestyle behaviors. While the reduction of total physical activity is assumed to negatively impact psychological health (higher stress and anxiety levels), regular sports activity during lockdown conditions has beneficial effects on health. Mechanisms are however unclear. The present analysis therefore examined the associations of sports activity with mental health, and assessed whether this is due to a direct effect on experiencing positive emotions and mental health, due to a stress-buffering mechanism, and/or through protecting/enhancing resilience. Methods An online survey, accessible from April 7th to April 30th 2020, gathered data on sports activity (Physical Activity, Exercise, and Sport Questionnaire, BSA), mental health (Patient Health Questionnaire-4, PHQ-4, WHO Wellbeing Index, WHO-5), momentary stress (single item), and resilience (i.e. feeling determined, cheerful, content, and being interested in the things one is doing). The final data set comprised 742 subjects including 534 (72.0%) women and ranging in age from 16 to 83 years (mean: 28.13 ± 11.46 years). Results Across all participants, sports activity was related to higher wellbeing and resilience but lower affective psychopathology. Importantly, all coefficients were below 0.2 indicating only small-sized associations. Moderation analyses confirmed a direct effect of sports activity on affective symptoms and wellbeing. Stress-buffering effects were not confirmed for either outcome but a resilience-protecting effect was seen for both wellbeing and affective psychopathology. Conclusions During the initial phase of the first COVID-19 lockdown, sports activity was associated with better mental health and wellbeing. Besides this direct effect, there was also evidence for a resilience-protecting effect of sport. The assumed stress-buffering effect could not be confirmed. Present findings indicate resilience-protective mechanisms to be a major contributor to sports beneficial effects on mental health during quarantine. Though, results from this cross-sectional, predominantly female, and convenience sample study must be confirmed in more diverse samples.

scholarly journals Exercise and brain

2018 ◽  
pp. 104-110
Author(s):  
А.А. Пальцын
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Growth Factors ◽  
Physical Exercise ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Clinical Data ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Stimulation Of

Жизненный опыт, многочисленные экспериментальные и клинические данные свидетельствуют о благотворном действии движения, физических нагрузок на сохранение телесного и душевного здоровья человека. Более того, множество психических, неврологических и нейродегенеративных болезней и состояний, таких как инсульт, травмы мозга, наркомании, для которых нет эффективных фармакологических средств, могут быть предотвращены, существенно облегчены, замедленны в развитии физическими упражнениями. Современная неврология выяснила ряд механизмов, которыми мышечное движение обеспечивает профилактический и лечебный эффект: синтез нейротрансмиттеров, нейротрофинов и других факторов роста, стимуляция нейропластичности, образование новых связей и перекомбинация старых, ангиогенез, митогормезис, нейрогенез. Life experience and numerous experimental and clinical data evidence beneficial effects of mobility and physical activity on maintaining human bodily and mental health. Moreover, many mental, neurological, and neurodegenerative diseases and conditions, such as stroke, brain trauma, and drug addiction, for which there are no effective pharmacological therapies, can be prevented, considerably alleviated or slowed by physical exercise. Modern neurology has identified a number of mechanisms, by which muscular movements provide preventive and curative effects, including synthesis of neurotransmitters, neurotrophins and other growth factors, stimulation of neuroplasticity, formation of new and recombination of old connections, angiogenesis, mitohormesis, and neurogenesis.

scholarly journals Shared brain and genetic architectures between mental health and physical activity

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Sarah E Paul ◽  
Anderson M. Winkler ◽  
Ryan Bogdan ◽  
Janine D Bijsterbosch
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Causal Relationships ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Connectivity Strength

Physical activity is correlated with, and effectively treats various forms of psychopathology. However, whether biological correlates of physical activity and psychopathology are shared remains unclear. Here, we examined the extent to which the neural and genetic architecture of physical activity and mental health are shared. Using data from the UK Biobank (N=6,389), canonical correlation analysis was applied to estimate associations between the amplitude and connectivity strength of sub-networks of three major neurocognitive networks (default mode, DMN; salience, SN; central executive networks, CEN) with accelerometer-derived measures of physical activity and self-reported mental health. We estimated the genetic correlation between mental health and physical activity measures, as well as putative causal relationships by applying linkage disequilibrium score regression, genomic structural equational modeling, and latent causal variable analysis to genome-wide association summary statistics (GWAS N=91,105-500,199). Physical activity and mental health were associated with connectivity strength and amplitude of the DMN, SN, and CEN (all r>0.13, all p<0.048). These neural correlates exhibited highly similar loading patterns across mental health and physical activity models even when accounting for their shared variance. This suggests a largely shared brain network architecture between mental health and physical activity. Mental health and physical activity were also genetically correlated (|rg|=0.085-0.121), but we found no evidence for causal relationships between them. Collectively, our findings provide empirical evidence that mental health and physical activity have shared brain and genetic architectures and suggest potential candidate sub-networks for future studies on brain mechanisms underlying beneficial effects of physical activity on mental health.

scholarly journals Athletes’ Psychological Adaptation to Confinement Due to COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor J. Rubio ◽  
Iván Sánchez-Iglesias ◽  
Marta Bueno ◽  
Gema Martin
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Somatic Symptoms ◽  
Psychological Adaptation ◽  
Sports Activity ◽  
Mental Health Effects

Studies of individuals under conditions of confinement or severe social and physical restrictions have consistently shown deleterious mental health effects but also high levels of adaptability when dealing with such conditions. Considering the role of physical activity and sport in psychological adaptation, this paper describes a longitudinal study to explore to what extent the imposed restrictions due to the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 may have affected athletes’ mental health outcomes and how far the process of adaptation to confinement conditions is differentially affected depending on whether the sports activity was practiced individually or in a group, and outdoors, indoors, or both. Two hundred and seventy-four athletes were assessed over 7 weeks using the GHQ-28 and an ad hoc survey exploring the practice of physical activity. A mixed-model fixed effects ANCOVA was used to analyze the effects of time, place, and company in which the sport was practiced, with an index of the amount of physical activity expended as a covariate. Results show a significant effect of time in three out of four of the GHQ-28 subscales, in all cases showing a consistent adaptation to conditions over time. Results also show that playing sport indoors, outdoors, or both, and practicing alone vs. with others differentially affect the somatic symptoms exhibited during confinement: Athletes who practiced sport with others showed higher levels of somatic symptoms at the beginning of the set of data but a quicker rate of adaptation. Differences arising from practicing sport alone or with others were more pronounced in the case of indoor sports, which could be related to the fact that physical activity that can be practiced during confinement is more similar to that practiced indoors alone. Implications relating to what sport psychologists and other health professionals may offer to athletes in stressful situations are discussed.

scholarly journals Developing a Holistic Understanding of Health and Health Behavior in People Undergoing Resocialization in Prison under the “Active Today, Different Tomorrow”

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-76
Author(s):  
Piotr Łapiński
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Open Unit ◽  
Physical Culture ◽  
Healthy Lifestyles ◽  
Free Society ◽  
Sports Activity ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Perception Of Health

AbstractThe main purpose of detention in a modern, humanitarian prison system is to bring the prisoners to live in a free society in a manner consistent with applicable laws and morals. The indicators of modernity are also ways and means by which attempts are made to achieve this goal. In many European and non-European prisons, physical culture achievements are commonly used in working with prisoners. They organize programmed resocialization activities for prisoners with a substantial share of physical education and recreational free time activities. Sometimes, prisoners are offered the chance to take their own initiatives to encourage healthy lifestyles. In addition to teaching, during which the prisoners participate in physical activity, they use interaction with sports authorities in the form of discussion meetings between prisoners and athletes. Such meetings are also organized at the House of Detention in Inowrocław, which operates a half-open unit for the convicts. These meetings are the part of the activities of “Paragraph”, the Olympian club (based at the Inowrocław prison) subject to the Polish Olympic Committee. The author participated in several such meetings as an invited guest or co-organizer and observed that they are primarily of a recollective character. But it was hard to find in them specific, praxeologically structured and conceptually implemented resocialization interactions. Teleological vagueness initiated the search for the real purpose of these meetings by means of observation. The meetings clearly appeared to have more of an ad hoc (referring to the conditions in prison) than a prospective character (undertaken with a view to the period after release). These findings were the inspiration for the development of the main objectives of a two-step strategy of a change in scenarios of the meetings between the convicts and athletes, the ultimate goal of which was to give them the characteristics of programmed rehabilitation. They defined the procedure for involving sportsmen to accomplish the objectives in the area of mental health and social development and made the selection and development of tools to measure the effects of these interactions. The article is a report on research designed to determine differences in perception of health, as well as on conducting health activities among those inmates who participated in the program “Active today, different tomorrow” and those who did not participate in it. The study involved 67 penitentiary recidivists. Two questionnaires by Siegfried Juczyński were used: the List of Health Criteria and Health Behaviour Inventory. The results gave the possibility to formulate important methodological implications for practitioners who involve prominent sportsmen in resocialization. They also proved useful in efforts to create another resocialization program that uses sports activity in resocialization.

scholarly journals Influence of socioeconomic variables on physical activity and screen time of children and adolescents during the COVID‑19 lockdown in Germany: the MoMo study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen C. E. Schmidt ◽  
Alexander Burchartz ◽  
Simon Kolb ◽  
Claudia Niessner ◽  
Doris Oriwol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Housing Situation ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Sports Activity ◽  
Habitual Activity ◽  
The World

AbstractThe COVID‑19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic created a multitude of natural experiments about the change of human behavior in a widely unfamiliar situation. Besides physical and mental health, physical activity (PA) and people’s movement behaviors were of particular interest to researchers all over the world. In a recent study, we found that among youth in Germany, sports activity declined, whereas recreational screen time and habitual activity increased during the first COVID‑19 lockdown. In the present study, we analyze the influence of the socioeconomic status and the housing situation on the changes in PA behavior and recreational screen-time before and during the first COVID‑19 lockdown among children and adolescents living in Germany. We found an alignment of PA behavior among youth from families with different socioeconomic backgrounds during the first lockdown and identified the housing situation to be a meaningful predictor of the increase in habitual activity. We conclude that restriction policies, communities, and in the last instance parents need to enable access to nonorganized PA to all children and adolescents every day and especially during potential future lockdowns.

scholarly journals Movement Behaviors and Mental Wellbeing: A Cross-Sectional Isotemporal Substitution Analysis of Canadian Adolescents

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denver M. Y. Brown ◽  
Matthew Y. W. Kwan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Vigorous Physical Activity ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Female Self ◽  
Beneficial Effects

Background: Studies have shown reallocating screen time for healthy movement behaviors such as physical activity and sleep can provide important benefits for mental health. However, the focus on positive aspects of mental health such as wellbeing has received limited attention, particularly among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reallocating physical activity, screen time, and sleep on mental wellbeing in adolescents.Methods: This study involved cross-sectional analysis of data from Wave 1 of the ADAPT study. A total of 1,118 Canadian adolescents enrolled in grade 11 classes (MAGE = 15.92; 54.5% female) self-reported their movement behaviors using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form to assess moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and daily recall questionnaires to assess recreational screen time and sleep. Participants also completed three measures of mental wellbeing: the Flourishing Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and a brief Resiliency scale from the Canadian Campus Wellbeing Survey.Results: Isotemporal substitution analysis revealed replacing 60 min of screen time with either moderate-to-vigorous physical activity or sleep has significant benefits for mental wellbeing. Comparatively, reallocating 60 min between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sleep does not impact mental wellbeing.Discussion: Findings suggest healthy movement behaviors confer similar beneficial effects for adolescent’s mental wellbeing. Health promotion campaigns targeted toward adolescents should consider highlighting that reallocation of screen time to either sleep or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may provide important benefits for mental wellbeing.

scholarly journals Who’s to Blame? Partisanship, Responsibility, and Support for Mental Health Treatment

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 237802312092165
Author(s):  
Christin L. Munsch ◽  
Liberty Barnes ◽  
Zachary D. Kline
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Gun Control ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Health Treatment ◽  
Attributions Of Responsibility ◽  
Healthcare Coverage ◽  
Nationally Representative

This article investigates partisan beliefs regarding attributions of responsibility for mental illness and support for mental health treatment. In study 1, we utilize a nationally representative data set to investigate these relationships with respect to generalized anxiety disorder. In study 2, we utilize an online convenience sample to assess these relationships in the context of schizophrenia. In both studies, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to attribute mental health disorders to factors that lie within patients’ control and were less supportive of healthcare coverage. In addition, given the rhetorical, erroneous link between schizophrenia and gun violence, we assess participants’ beliefs about gun control in the context of mental health. Paradoxically, we find that people who support gun rights for the mentally ill are the least likely to support healthcare coverage for the mentally ill. We discuss the implications of our findings for shaping U.S. gun debates.

scholarly journals Academic Stress, Physical Activity, Sleep, and Mental Health among Chinese Adolescents

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7257
Author(s):  
Xihe Zhu ◽  
Justin A. Haegele ◽  
Huarong Liu ◽  
Fangliang Yu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Path Analysis ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Academic Stress ◽  
Chinese Adolescents ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Health Indices

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of academic stress on physical activity and sleep, and subsequently their impacts on anxiety and depression. Methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from a convenience sample of 1533 adolescents in an eastern province in China. Surveys were used to collect data on academic stress, anxiety, depression, sleep, physical activity, and demographics. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and path analysis were used to analyze data. Results: The participants reported about 6.77 ± 0.89 h of sleep per day and 1.62 ± 1.79 days of 60 min of physical activity each week. Academic stress was positively correlated with anxiety and depression, which were negatively correlated with physical activity and sleep. The path analysis showed that academic stress directly predicted anxiety (β = 0.54) and depression (β = 0.55), and hours of sleep (β = 0.024) and the number of days of 60 min physical activity (β = 0.014) mediated the relation. Conclusion: The results largely supported our hypotheses and supported the need to lessen academic stress experienced by Chinese adolescents, in effort to enhance mental health indices directly, and by allowing for engagement in health-related behaviors such as physical activity and sleep.

Effects of Exercise on Mental Health

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Olex ◽  
Krista Olex
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Aerobic Exercise ◽  
Tai Chi ◽  
Large Body ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Mood And Cognition

While the beneficial effects of exercise on the body are well established, there is now substantial evidence that physical activity has significant benefits on brain function and mental health as well. Physical activity including aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, yoga, and Tai Chi can influence mental health through numerous mechanisms on multiple levels, ranging from the microscopic to the level of human connection. A large body of clinical data suggests that exercise has beneficial effects on mood and cognition. While the evidence is strongest for the effects of aerobic exercise on cognitive dysfunction and depression, there is promising data in the use of aerobic exercise in other populations with mental illness as well as for the use of the other types of movement for mental health. Clinicians should be aware of physical activity as a powerful tool in their clinical toolbox with the potential for tremendous benefit on mind and body.

scholarly journals The Effects of Physical Exercise on Mental Health: From Cognitive Improvements to Risk of Addiction

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (24) ◽  
pp. 13384
Author(s):  
Pasquale Caponnetto ◽  
Mirko Casu ◽  
Miriam Amato ◽  
Dario Cocuzza ◽  
Valeria Galofaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Exercise ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Response Speed ◽  
Healthy Population ◽  
Exercise Addiction ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
The Impact

(1) Background: we aimed to investigate the effects of physical activity on cognitive functions and deficits of healthy population and other needy groups. Secondly, we investigated the relation between healthy habits and psychopathological risks. Finally, we investigated the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on exercise addiction and possible associated disorders. (2) Methods: From April 2021 to October 2021, we conducted a review aimed at identifying the effects of physical exercise on mental health, from cognitive improvements to risk of addiction; we searched for relevant studies on PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINHAL. (3) Results: For the first purpose, results indicated multiple effects such as better precision and response speed in information processing tasks on healthy populations; improvement of executive functions, cognitive flexibility and school performance in children; improvement of attention and executive functions and less hyperactivity and impulsiveness on children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); improvement of executive and global functions on adults; improvement of overall cognitive functioning on patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorder or bipolar disorder. Data also demonstrated that exercise addiction seems to be related to low levels of education, low self-esteem, eating disorders and body dysmorphisms. Eventually, it was found that people with lower traits and intolerance of uncertainty show a strong association between COVID-19 anxiety and compulsive exercise and eating disorder. (4) Conclusions: these findings underline on one side the beneficial effects of physical activity on cognitive function in healthy individuals in a preventive and curative key, while on the other side the importance of an adequate evaluation of psychological distress and personality characteristics associated with exercise addiction.

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