Examining the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on exercise behavior and perceived academic stress among U.S. college students

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to capture the impact of COVID-19 on exercise behavior in U.S. college students. Exercise behaviors and perceived academic stress were examined from pre-COVID-19 (January–March 2020) and early-COVID-19 (April–July 2020) to continued-COVID-19 times (August–October 2020). Participants: One hundred and thirty-two participants completed the online questionnaires retrospectively. Methods: Two-way analyses of variance were used to examine exercise behaviors and academic stress perception over time between genders. Results: Participants spent much time in sedentary behavior and an increase in academic stress was evident in learning during the early-COVID-19 period. The time spent in sedentary behavior was reduced, but the stress involving coursework remained during the continued-COVID period. The impact of the COVID pandemic was observed to be universal across sex groups. Conclusions: Universities should consider how to support physical and mental health during lockdown and extended closure due to a pandemic.

Keywords:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• physical activity
• perceived academic stress
• sedentary behavior

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Mississippi State University.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.