Influences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Intuitive Exercise and Physical Activity among College Students

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the health behaviors of people around the world, including their physical activity patterns. Intuitive exercise, a facet of one’s relationship with physical activity, is defined as one’s awareness, mindset (positive versus negative),...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral sciences 2022-03, Vol.12 (3), p.72
Main Authors: Yon, Alyssa L, Reel, Justine J, Chen-Edinboro, Lenis P, Pate, Melannie R, Reich, Jessica C, Hillhouse, Linden A, Kantor, Rachel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Body image
College students
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Emotions
Exercise
Health behavior
intuitive exercise
Medical research
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental health
Mindfulness
Pandemics
physical activity
Physical fitness
Self image
Stress
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Summary:The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the health behaviors of people around the world, including their physical activity patterns. Intuitive exercise, a facet of one’s relationship with physical activity, is defined as one’s awareness, mindset (positive versus negative), and mindfulness when engaged in movement. The study’s purpose was to explore whether self-reported physical activity and psychological mindsets around exercise changed during the pandemic. College students (n = 216) described their relationship with exercise before and during the pandemic through anonymous completion of the Intuitive Exercise Scale (IEXS) and open-ended questions to provide in-depth contextualized responses about exercise habits. Participants reported significantly higher scores on intuitive exercise during the pandemic, such as on the Body Trust subscale (M = 3.43), compared to pre-pandemic levels (M = 3.20), p < 0.001. Moreover, varied themes related to physical activity were uncovered such as exercising for fun, exercise influenced by emotion, and loss of motivation to exercise. Important takeaways of the study include the diversity of responses to the pandemic (i.e., some participants reported an increase in physical activity levels and more positive exercise attitudes while others experienced the opposite), the need to promote self-care, and the need for positive coping strategies.
ISSN:2076-328X
2076-328X
DOI:10.3390/bs12030072