IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i6p2930-d516049.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nine Months into the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study Showing Mental Health and Movement Behaviours Are Impaired in UK Students

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew J. Savage

    (SHAPE Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK)

  • Philip J. Hennis

    (SHAPE Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK)

  • Daniele Magistro

    (SHAPE Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK)

  • James Donaldson

    (SHAPE Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK)

  • Laura C. Healy

    (SHAPE Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK)

  • Ruth M. James

    (SHAPE Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham NG11 8NS, UK)

Abstract

Initial studies indicated that student mental health was impaired during the early stages of the pandemic and that maintaining/improving physical activity gave some protection from mental illness. However, as the pandemic persists, these data may not reflect current circumstances and may have been confounded by exam stress. Methods: This study used an online survey to assess the changes in, and associations between, mental health and movement behaviours in 255 UK university students from before the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2019) to 9 months following the UK’s first confirmed case (October 2020). Changes in and associations between mental wellbeing, perceived stress, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour were assessed using a mixed model ANOVA; a multiple linear regression model determined the predictive value of variables associated with Δ mental wellbeing. Results: Mental wellbeing and physical activity decreased (45.2 to 42.3 ( p < 0.001); 223 to 173 min/week ( p < 0.001)), whereas perceived stress and time spent sedentary increased (19.8 to 22.8 ( p < 0.001); 66.0 to 71.2 h/week ( p = 0.036)). Δ perceived stress, Δ sedentary behaviour and university year accounted for 64.7%, 12.9%, and 10.1% of the variance in Δ mental wellbeing ( p < 0.001; p = 0.006; p = 0.035). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic is having a sustained negative impact on student mental health and movement behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew J. Savage & Philip J. Hennis & Daniele Magistro & James Donaldson & Laura C. Healy & Ruth M. James, 2021. "Nine Months into the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study Showing Mental Health and Movement Behaviours Are Impaired in UK Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-10, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2930-:d:516049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2930/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2930/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yao Zhang & Haoyu Zhang & Xindong Ma & Qian Di, 2020. "Mental Health Problems during the COVID-19 Pandemics and the Mitigation Effects of Exercise: A Longitudinal Study of College Students in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Stefano Ferracuti & Osvalda De Giglio & Giuseppina Caggiano & Carmela Protano & Federica Valeriani & Eduardo Alfonso Parisi & Giuliana Valerio & Giorgio Liguori , 2020. "Sedentary Behaviors and Physical Activity of Italian Undergraduate Students during Lockdown at the Time of CoViD−19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-11, August.
    3. Hong Yan Li & Hui Cao & Doris Y. P. Leung & Yim Wah Mak, 2020. "The Psychological Impacts of a COVID-19 Outbreak on College Students in China: A Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-11, June.
    4. Juana Inés Gallego-Gómez & María Campillo-Cano & Aurora Carrión-Martínez & Serafín Balanza & María Teresa Rodríguez-González-Moro & Agustín Javier Simonelli-Muñoz & José Miguel Rivera-Caravaca, 2020. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Homebound Nursing Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-12, October.
    5. Eugenio Proto & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2021. "COVID-19 and mental health deterioration by ethnicity and gender in the UK," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jie Feng & Patrick Wing Chung Lau & Lei Shi & Wendy Yajun Huang, 2022. "Longitudinal Shifts in Movement Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relations to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-12, October.
    2. Lili Liu & Jianbin Chen & Shunwei Liang & Xiaodan Peng & Wenwen Yang & Andi Huang & Xiayong Wang & Fang Fan & Jingbo Zhao, 2023. "An Unusual College Experience: 16-Month Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Anxiety among Chinese New Undergraduate Students of 2019 during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Qingyuan Luo & Peng Zhang & Yijia Liu & Xiujie Ma & George Jennings, 2022. "Intervention of Physical Activity for University Students with Anxiety and Depression during the COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control Period: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-20, November.
    4. María Giner-Murillo & Beatriz Atienza-Carbonell & Jose Cervera-Martínez & Teresa Bobes-Bascarán & Benedicto Crespo-Facorro & Raquel B. De Boni & Cristina Esteban & María Paz García-Portilla & Susana G, 2021. "Lifestyle in Undergraduate Students and Demographically Matched Controls during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Alice Freiberg & Melanie Schubert & Karla Romero Starke & Janice Hegewald & Andreas Seidler, 2021. "A Rapid Review on the Influence of COVID-19 Lockdown and Quarantine Measures on Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors in the General Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-46, August.
    6. Daniel Reyes-Molina & Jesús Alonso-Cabrera & Gabriela Nazar & Maria Antonia Parra-Rizo & Rafael Zapata-Lamana & Cristian Sanhueza-Campos & Igor Cigarroa, 2022. "Association between the Physical Activity Behavioral Profile and Sedentary Time with Subjective Well-Being and Mental Health in Chilean University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-15, February.
    7. Charlotte Roche & Abigail Fisher & Daisy Fancourt & Alexandra Burton, 2022. "Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-16, July.
    8. Georgie Bruinvels & Richard C. Blagrove & Esther Goldsmith & Laurence Shaw & Daniel Martin & Jessica Piasecki, 2022. "How Lifestyle Changes during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic Affected the Pattern and Symptoms of the Menstrual Cycle," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-19, October.
    9. Inna Reddy Edara & Fides del Castillo & Gregory Siy Ching & Clarence Darro del Castillo, 2021. "Religiosity, Emotions, Resilience, and Wellness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of Taiwanese University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-21, June.
    10. Kathrin Wunsch & Korbinian Kienberger & Claudia Niessner, 2022. "Changes in Physical Activity Patterns Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-48, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. María Giner-Murillo & Beatriz Atienza-Carbonell & Jose Cervera-Martínez & Teresa Bobes-Bascarán & Benedicto Crespo-Facorro & Raquel B. De Boni & Cristina Esteban & María Paz García-Portilla & Susana G, 2021. "Lifestyle in Undergraduate Students and Demographically Matched Controls during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Vojko Vučković & Klemen Krejač & Tanja Kajtna, 2022. "Exercise Motives of College Students after the COVID-19 Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Isabel Lasheras & Patricia Gracia-García & Darren M. Lipnicki & Juan Bueno-Notivol & Raúl López-Antón & Concepción de la Cámara & Antonio Lobo & Javier Santabárbara, 2020. "Prevalence of Anxiety in Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Rapid Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-12, September.
    4. Wandeep Kaur & Vimala Balakrishnan & Yoke Yong Chen & Jeyarani Periasamy, 2022. "Mental Health Risk Factors and Coping Strategies among Students in Asia Pacific during COVID-19 Pandemic—A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Vladimir Reshetnikov & Oleg Mitrokhin & Elena Belova & Victor Mikhailovsky & Maria Mikerova & Ali Alsaegh & Irina Yakushina & Valery Royuk, 2021. "Indoor Environmental Quality in Dwellings and Lifestyle Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Russian Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-9, June.
    6. Lorenzo Viselli & Federico Salfi & Aurora D’Atri & Giulia Amicucci & Michele Ferrara, 2021. "Sleep Quality, Insomnia Symptoms, and Depressive Symptomatology among Italian University Students before and during the Covid-19 Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Anelise Sonza & Danúbia da Cunha de Sá-Caputo & Alessandro Sartorio & Sofia Tamini & Adérito Seixas & Borja Sanudo & Jessica Süßenbach & Marcello Montillo Provenza & Vinicius Layter Xavier & Redha Tai, 2021. "COVID-19 Lockdown and the Behavior Change on Physical Exercise, Pain and Psychological Well-Being: An International Multicentric Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Fengxia Zhu & Yueyun Zhang & Qi Li & Yuanyao Xu & Baozhong Liu, 2022. "Families, Schools, and the Longitudinal Changes in Psychological Distress among College Students during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a National Panel Survey in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, October.
    9. Tahani K. Alshammari & Aljawharah M. Alkhodair & Hanan A. Alhebshi & Aleksandra M. Rogowska & Awatif B. Albaker & Nouf T. AL-Damri & Anfal F. Bin Dayel & Asma S. Alonazi & Nouf M. Alrasheed & Musaad A, 2022. "Examining Anxiety, Sleep Quality, and Physical Activity as Predictors of Depression among University Students from Saudi Arabia during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-18, May.
    10. Xiaoyu Wang & Zaifei Ma & Chunan Wang, 2022. "A Longitudinal Study on the Addictive Behaviors of General Population before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-12, May.
    11. Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Lavinia Bianco & Mario Maninchedda & Benedetta Barchielli & Fabrizio Liguori & Giovanna Da Molin & Giorgio Liguori & Giovanni Battista Orsi & Stefano Ferracuti &, 2022. "How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted Daily Life? Assessing the Use of Web Resources for Recreational Activities in the Italian Adult Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-13, November.
    12. Giulietti, Corrado & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2021. "When Reality Bites: Local Deaths and Vaccine Take-Up," GLO Discussion Paper Series 999, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Fetzer, T. & Rauh, C., 2022. "Pandemic pressures and public health care: evidence from England," Janeway Institute Working Papers 2204, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. Remigiusz Dróżdż & Marcin Pasek & Magdalena Zając & Mirosława Szark-Eckardt, 2022. "Physical Culture and Sports as an Educational Basis of Students’ Healthy Physical Activities during and Post-Lockdown COVID-19 Restrictions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-11, September.
    15. Israel Escudero-Castillo & Fco. Javier Mato-Díaz & Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez, 2021. "Furloughs, Teleworking and Other Work Situations during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Mental Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-16, March.
    16. Silvia Mariela Méndez-Prado & Ariel Flores Ulloa, 2022. "The Impact Analysis of Psychological Issues and Pandemic-Related Variables on Ecuadorian University Students during COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.
    17. Sonia OREFICCE & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2021. "Gender inequality in COVID-19 times: evidence from UK prolific participants," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 261-287, June.
    18. Mariam Tsaava & Nikoloz Oniani & Marine Eliozishvili & Irine Sakhelashvili & Nino Tkemaladze & Tamar Aladashvili & Tamar Basishvili & Nato Darchia, 2022. "Age-Based Differences in Sleep Quality, Pre-Sleep Arousal, and Psychosocial Factors during the Second Wave Lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Georgia—A Higher Vulnerability of Younger People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Chaudhuri, K & Howley, P., 2021. "The impact of Covid-19 vaccination for mental health," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 21/14, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    20. Irfan Ullah & Md. Saiful Islam & Sajjad Ali & Hashaam Jamil & Muhammad Junaid Tahir & Aatik Arsh & Jaffer Shah & Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam, 2021. "Insufficient Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors among Medical Students during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Findings from a Cross-Sectional Study in Pakistan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-10, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2930-:d:516049. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.