Changes in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors During COVID-19: Associations with Psychological Distress Among Mothers

Figures & data

Table 1 Descriptive Sociodemographic Characteristics of a Sample of Mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Mostly Residing in Minnesota, USA, May–August 2020 (N = 317)

Characteristics		n	%
Race
African American		17	5
American Indian/Alaska Native		6	2
Asian		39	13
Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander		1	1
White		233	74
Multi-racial		7	2
Ethnicity
Hispanic/Latinx		10	3
Educational attainment
Associate’s degree or less		131	42
Bachelor’s degree or more		182	58
Employment status
Working full time		222	70
Working part-time		50	16
Out of the labor force		44	14
Annual household income
$99,999 or less		153	49
$100,000 or more		160	51
Relationship status
Married, living with spouse		237	75
Other*		77	25
Number of children living at home
1		68	22
2		153	48
3 or more		96	30
Number of children by age of child
0–5 years		95	30
6–12 years		155	49
13–20 years		66	21
		Mean	SD
Age, years (mean, sd)		38.3	1.4

Notes: For some characteristics, numbers may not add up to 317 because of missing responses or the “other” option was selected. *Includes other relationship arrangements (eg, unmarried, living with partner), separated, divorced, or single.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; %, percentage.

Table 2 Unadjusted Number of Respondents and Corresponding Percentages of Predictor Variables and Means, Standard Deviations, and Range of Outcome Variables Measured in a Sample of Mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Mostly Residing in Minnesota, USA, May–August 2020 (N = 317)

Predictor Variables	n	%
Perceived change in MVPA
Much less or less	124	39
Same	121	38
More or much more	72	23
Perceived change in sedentary behaviors
Much less or less	33	10
Same	86	27
More or much more	198	63
Dependent variables	Mean	SD	Range
PHQ-9 (Depressive symptoms)	6.4	5.3	0–25
GAD-7 (Anxiety symptoms)	7.3	5.1	0–21
PSS (Perceived stress)	18.9	6.6	2–37
PANAS (Affect)
Positive affect	28.9	6.5	12–50
Negative affect	24.4	7.6	10–49

Abbreviations: MVPA, moderate-vigorous physical activity; SD, standard deviation; %, percentage.

Table 3 Adjusted Associations Between Perceived Change in Moderate-Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) (A) and Sedentary Behaviors (B) and Psychological Distress Measures in a Sample of Mothers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Mostly Residing in Minnesota, USA, May–August 2020 (N = 317)

A. MVPA
	MVPA
Psychological outcome measures	Much less or less (n=124)		Same (n=121)		More or much more (n=72)
	Predicted mean	95% CI	Predicted mean	95% CI	Predicted mean	95% CI
Depressive symptoms	7.7	6.7, 8.6^a	5.6	4.6, 6.5^b	5.8	4.5, 7.0^b
Anxiety symptoms	8.2	7.3, 9.1^a	6.9	6.0, 7.8^b	6.6	5.4, 7.7^b
Perceived stress	20.5	19.3, 21.7^a	17.9	16.7, 19.1^b	17.9	16.4, 19.5^b
Positive affect	26.6	25.5, 27.8^a	30.6	29.5, 31.7^b	29.8	28.3, 31.3^b
Negative affect	25.9	24.5, 27.2^a	23.4	22.0, 24.7^b	23.5	21.7, 25.2^b
B. Sedentary behaviors
	Sedentary behaviors
Psychological outcome measures	Much less or less (n=33)		Same (n=86)		More or much more (n=198)
	Predicted mean	95% CI	Predicted mean	95% CI	Predicted mean	95% CI
Depressive symptoms	7.9	6.1, 9.7^a	4.7	3.6, 5.8^b	6.9	6.2, 7.6^a
Anxiety symptoms	7.7	5.9, 9.4^a, b	6.3	5.2, 7.4^a	7.7	7.0, 8.4^b
Perceived stress	18.5	16.1, 20.8^a, b	16.8	15.4, 18.2^a	19.9	19.0, 20.9^b
Positive affect	30.1	27.9, 32.4^a	31.2	29.8, 32.5^a	27.6	26.7, 28.5^b
Negative affect	23.7	21.1, 26.3^a, b	22.4	20.8, 24.0^a	25.3	24.3, 26.4^b

Notes: Final sample size for each model: n=293, depressive symptoms model; n=296, anxiety symptoms model; n=299, perceived stress model; n=300, positive and negative affect models. Predicted means in a row without a common superscript letter statistically differ (P < 0.05).

Abbreviations: MVPA, moderate-vigorous physical activity; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval.