Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane, Spokane, Washington, United States of America.
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2021 Nov 22;16(11):e0260218. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260218. eCollection 2021.
Physical distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic mitigation strategies have negatively impacted physical activity (PA) levels and mental health in cross-sectional studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between changes in PA and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, following implementation of mitigation strategies, in a sample of adult twins.
This was a prospective study of 3,057 adult twins from the Washington State Twin Registry. Study participants completed online surveys in 2020, at baseline (March 26 -April 5), and three follow-up waves (W1: April 20 -May 3; W2: Jul 16 -Aug 2; W3: Sept 16 -Oct 1). Physical activity was operationalized as self-reported moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and neighborhood walking (minutes/week), and mental health outcomes, operationalized as self-reported anxiety and perceived stress were assessed in the three waves of follow-up. Latent growth curve models (LGCMs) were used to assess changes in PA and mental health outcomes over time. Parallel LGCMs were used to estimate the cross-sectional, parallel, and prospective associations between PA and mental health over time. All models took into within-pair correlations and adjusted for age, sex, and race.
Individuals' amount of MVPA and walking decreased over time, whereas levels of anxiety remained stable, and stress increased slightly. Cross-sectional associations observed between both PA predictors and mental health outcomes were weak. After taking into account cross-sectional associations between PA and mental health outcomes, changes in PA over time were not associated with changes in mental health outcomes over time.
Over a time period aligned with COVID-19 mitigation strategies and social restrictions, changes in physical activity was not associated with changes in anxiety or stress levels in the current sample. Nonetheless, the average decline in PA over time is worrisome. Public health resources should continue to promote PA as a means to improve physical health during the pandemic.
在横断面研究中，身体活动（PA）水平和心理健康因身体距离和其他 COVID-19 大流行缓解策略而受到负面影响。本研究的目的是在成人双胞胎样本中，研究在实施缓解策略后，COVID-19 大流行期间 PA 变化与心理健康结果之间的关联。
这是一项对来自华盛顿州双胞胎登记处的 3057 名成人双胞胎的前瞻性研究。研究参与者于 2020 年完成了在线调查，基线（3 月 26 日至 4 月 5 日）和三个随访波（W1：4 月 20 日至 5 月 3 日；W2：7 月 16 日至 8 月 2 日；W3：9 月 16 日至 10 月 1 日）。PA 是通过自我报告的中度至剧烈 PA（MVPA）和邻里散步（分钟/周）来操作的，心理健康结果是通过三个随访波中的自我报告焦虑和感知压力来评估的。潜增长曲线模型（LGCM）用于评估 PA 和心理健康结果随时间的变化。平行 LGCM 用于估计 PA 和心理健康随时间的交叉、平行和前瞻性关联。所有模型都考虑了个体内相关性，并根据年龄、性别和种族进行了调整。
个体的 MVPA 和步行量随时间减少，而焦虑水平保持稳定，压力略有增加。在 PA 预测因子和心理健康结果之间观察到的横断面关联较弱。在考虑到 PA 和心理健康结果之间的横断面关联后，PA 的变化与心理健康结果的变化无关。
在与 COVID-19 缓解策略和社会限制相一致的时间段内，PA 的变化与当前样本中焦虑或压力水平的变化无关。尽管如此，PA 的平均下降令人担忧。公共卫生资源应继续将 PA 作为在大流行期间改善身体健康的一种手段。
