Physical activity perceptions and experiences of BAME Teesside University students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

Figures & data

Figure 1. A six-stage method of thematic analysis adapted from (Braun & Clarke, 2023).

Table 1. Social- demographic characteristics of participants.

	Age			Gender		Ethnicity
Participant code (Participant number Interview number)	28-35	36-45	46-52	Male	Female	Black or Black British- African	Asian British- Indian
	6	5	1	6	6	9	3
	Background			Gender
Participant 1	Asian			Female
Participant 2	Asian			Male
Participant 3	Asian			Female
Participant 4	Black African			Female
Participant 5	Black African			Female
Participant 6	Black African			Female
Participant 7	Black African			Female
Participant 8	Black African			Male
Participant 9	Black African			Male
Participant 10	Black African			Male
Participant 11	Black African			Male
Participant 12	Black African			Male

Table 2. Themes and participant contribution.

Major Theme	Participant number
	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12
Capability to engage in a physically active lifestyle		✓	✓	✓		✓	✓			✓	✓	✓
Facilitators or barriers to participating in physical activity	✓	✓	✓		✓		✓	✓	✓			✓

Table 3. A summary of the process of key theme development.

Supporting Quotes	Latent Codes	Subthemes	Key Theme
‘……. I am limited due to injuries, pains in joints and fatigue. But for performing severe physical activity is so difficult’	Knee pain, ankle pain, pregnancy, injuries, age	Physical barriers	Capability to engage in physically active lifestyle
‘…. this means that I cannot do physical activity because I have knee pain and ankle pain. I tried it, and I couldn’t do it. I’m not so capable’
‘……. actually, I feel very capable of doing physical activity, but I’m limited by my age. I need to be stronger to maintain my muscles so that I can continue to live a very active life… this also limits my choice of physical activities as I am in my late 40’s, almost 50’
‘……. also, restrictions, as I have self-awareness of COVID-19 is transmissible and I don’t want to get infected. I have stress, fear, and worry, that limits my physically active lifestyle due to the risk of getting infected with Corona virus. All these changes limit me, despite the fact that I am still a young Asian man’	Stress, fear, worry, anxiety, depression	Psychological barriers
‘……also fear from getting infected with COVIID-19 will cause a lot of social, psychological, and biological setbacks. So, I still think these limits me. The COVID-19 lockdown made me worry and anxious, and at times I felt it was depressing to pass on the virus to my friends and family members’
‘……It takes me longer to recover. ……am in my late 40s, almost 50. My body is becoming old and weak. I am no longer interest in performing physical activity. I even have limited physical activity choices’	Barrier (Attitude)- lost motivation due to age 40 years, Facilitator (Knowledge/awareness)-Lack of engagement with physical activity leads to a sedentary lifestyle, knowledge: facilitator-physical activity has a great	Facilitators/barriers of physical activity at intrapersonal levels (Psychological barriers)	Facilitators /Barriers of physical activity
‘The fact that I was limited to PA during COVID-19 lockdown affected my mental well-being leading me to get stressed’
‘………I still intend to do physical activities due to a lot of benefits it gives. A good physical and mental health. PA simply enhances my mental health’	influence on mental health/reduces stress, awareness: maintaining a good mental and physical health
‘……. so, it did make me feel a bit depressed because, you know, when you have a target of how you want to look and where you want to be and you’re not consistently getting there because of something that’s happening to you…. The COVID-19 lockdown only worsened my situation.’	health, attitudes: post lockdown I got my confidence to do physical activity, to improve my body image and mental health, lack of time, lack of childcare, lack of support from peers/family, stress, mental exhaustion, depression, fear, death and bereavement, lack of sleep
‘…… I also lack company or social opportunities to do my physical activity, which is important to my physically active lifestyle. I also have self-reflection and a desirable ambition to have a good body shape’	Barrier-. Social support: The situation of getting infected meant you could infect your family and friends, financial support; money limits my physically active lifestyle during COVID-19 lockdown, Barrier: Discouragement: COVID19 lockdown situation was not encouraging, interdisciplinary collaboration: I also lack company or social opportunities to do my physical activity	Barriers of physical activity at interpersonal level (social barriers)
‘……lack of money affects my physically active lifestyle Money limits my physically active lifestyle during the COVID-19 lockdown. This impacts the family’
‘………. unless if you are an essential worker, number of infections and death this has been so difficult and limited my physically active lifestyle. I feared and was stressed. I feared for my life and my family. I wondered and feared for my health in general’
‘………. there were tough government restrictions, and gyms as well as recreation centres and gyms were closed to reduce the number of infections. It was too infections all the time’	Barrier-Physical environment; Feared getting infected and infecting others corona virus,COVID-19 lockdown this limits my physically active lifestyle, barrier: participant activities, there were tough government restrictions and gyms and recreation centres closed to reduce the number of infections, barrier- physical activity procedures: obeying COVID19 government guidelines,sickness, arthritis, injuries, pregnancy, and asthma	Barriers of physical activity at institutional level (physical barriers)
‘……. I feared getting infected and infecting others during COVID-19lockdown it was a set back towards my friends and family. So, this limited my physically active lifestyle’
‘……at times, there were not clear guidelines as well, as this was a novel virus, and even scientists had many things unknown and uncertain’

Figure 2. Summary of mapping of themes onto the COM-B model (Adapted from Roche et al., 2022).

Figure 3. The latent codes informing Theme 1 - ‘Capability to engage in physical activity lifestyle’.

Figure 4. Latent codes forming the Facilitators/Barriers of PA.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2023). Is thematic analysis used well in health psychology? A critical review of published research, with recommendations for quality practice and reporting. Health Psychology Review, 17(4), 695–718. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2022.2161594

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Roche, C., Fisher, A., Fancourt, D., & Burton, A. (2022). Exploring barriers and facilitators to physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), 9169. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159169

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