Comparative Study of the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Nutritional Practices Among International Elite and Sub-Elite Athletes: A Sample of 1420 Participants from 14 Countries.
Journal: Sports medicine - open
Volume: 9
Issue: 1
Year of Publication:
Affiliated Institutions:
Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in Sports, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. taheri.mortza@ut.ac.ir.
Faculty of Medicine, Research Laboratory "Heart Failure, LRSP", Farhat HACHED Hospital, University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia.
Sports Performance Division, Institut Sukan Negara Malaysia (National Sports Institute of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Autonomous University of Occident, Los Mochis, Mexico.
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Sport Science, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran.
Research Laboratory: Education, Motricité, Sport et Santé, EMS, LRJS, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Faculty of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
Department of Economic-Administrative Sciences, Autonomous University of Occident, Los Mochis, Mexico.
Sport Management Department, Faculty of Management, Canadian University Dubai, City Walk, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Faculty of Sports Science, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran.
Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Faculty of Sport Sciences, Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Türkiye.
Kirkpinar Sport Sciences Faculty, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey.
Center for Physical Education and Sports, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil.
Department of Sport Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
Department of Sports Physiology, University of Mazandran, Babolsar, Iran.
Department of Psychology, Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore, Pakistan.
Trauma Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Sportpsychology, Department of Sport and Sport Science, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Department of Communication and Arts, University of Beira Interior, Covilha, Portugal.
Department of Kinesiology and Outdoor Recreation, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT, USA.
University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran.
School of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
Laboratoire Mouvement, Sport, Santé, University Rennes, Rennes, France.
Natural Wellness Now Health Products Inc., Maple Ridge, BC, Canada.
Faculty of Health, Education, and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK.
Control Engineering Department, Faculty of Technical and Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
Department of Training and Movement Science, Institute of Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Department of Physical Education and Sport Teaching, Inonu University, , Malatya, Turkey.
High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Kef. University of Jendouba, El Kef, Tunisia.
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), York University, Toronto, ON, MJ P, Canada.
Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, , Cáceres, Spain.
Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFID), Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, Vadianstrasse , , St. Gallen, Switzerland. beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch.
Abstract summary
Although several studies have shown that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown has had negative impacts on mental health and eating behaviors among the general population and athletes, few studies have examined the long-term effects on elite and sub-elite athletes. The present study aimed to investigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health and eating behaviors in elite versus sub-elite athletes two years into the pandemic. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted between March and April 2022, involving athletes from 14 countries, using a convenient non-probabilistic and snowball sampling method. A total of 1420 athletes (24.5 ± 7.9 years old, 569 elites, 35% women, and 851 sub-elites, 45% women) completed an online survey-based questionnaire. The questionnaire included a sociodemographic survey, information about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) for mental health assessment, and the Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants (REAP-S) for assessing eating behavior.The results showed that compared to sub-elite athletes, elite athletes had lower scores on the DASS-21 (p = .001) and its subscales of depression (p = .003), anxiety (p = .007), and stress (p < .001), as well as a lower REAP-S score indicating lower diet quality (p = .013).In conclusion, two years into the pandemic, elite athletes were likelier to have better mental health profiles than sub-elite athletes but surprisingly had lower diet quality.
Authors & Co-authors:
Taheri Morteza M
Saad Helmi Ben HB
Washif Jad Adrian JA
Reynoso-Sánchez Luis Felipe LF
Mirmoezzi Masoud M
Youzbashi Leila L
Trabelsi Khaled K
Moshtagh Mozhgan M
Muñoz-Helú Hussein H
Mataruna-Dos-Santos Leonardo Jose LJ
Seghatoleslami Ali A
Torabi Farnaz F
Soylu Yusuf Y
Kurt Cem C
Vancini Rodrigo Luiz RL
Delkash Shabnam S
Rezaei Marjan Sadat MS
Ashouri Mahdi M
Tahira Shazia S
Sayyah Mansour M
Chtourou Hamdi H
Dergaa Ismail I
Strahler Jana J
Guimarães-Mataruna Andressa Fontes AF
Lebaron Tyler W TW
Ezdini Ebrahim Shaabani ES
Alizade Ardeshir A
Zouhal Hassane H
Tarnava Alexander T AT
Clark Cain C
Bigdeli Nooshin N
Ammar Achraf A
Eken Özgür Ö
Ayed Karim Ben KB
Bragazzi Nicola Luigi NL
Nobari Hadi H
Thuany Mabliny M
Weiss Katja K
Knechtle Beat B
Irandoust Khadijeh K
Study Outcome
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