Differences in the Association between Physical Activity and People’s Resilience and Emotions during Two Consecutive Covid-19 Lockdowns in Israel

Sima Zach, Sigal Eilat-Adar, Miki Ophir and Avital Dotan
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Sima Zach: The Wingate Institute, The Academic College at Wingate, Netanya 4290200, Israel
Sigal Eilat-Adar: The Wingate Institute, The Academic College at Wingate, Netanya 4290200, Israel
Miki Ophir: The Wingate Institute, The Academic College at Wingate, Netanya 4290200, Israel
Avital Dotan: The Wingate Institute, The Academic College at Wingate, Netanya 4290200, Israel

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-10

Abstract: Governments worldwide have imposed harsh restrictions for decreasing the Covid-19 pandemic and maintaining public health. Yet such limitations have impacted people’s physical activity. This study examined relationships between changes in physical activity and resilience, emotions, and depression during two lockdowns in Israel. An online survey was completed twice by 135 participants during two consecutive lockdowns. The results indicate that resilience and positive emotions were higher, and negative emotions and depression were lower during the second lockdown compared to the first one—even though people spent less time performing physical activity in the later lockdown. Moreover, negative emotions significantly decreased among people who reported increased physical activity during the second lockdown [M = 2.2 (SD = 0.9) compared to M = 1.9 (SD = 0.8) on a scale of 1–5] and increased among those who reported a reduction in activity [M = 1.8 (SD = 0.7) compared to M = 2.2 (SD = 0.7)]. It could therefore be concluded that while the Israeli population’s resilience is higher compared to other populations (who do not regularly deal with crisis situations), their increased physical activity was associated with better resilience and emotions and lower depression scores. Since lockdowns are an extreme yet often repeated phenomenon, it is important to understand the psychological implications of engaging in physical activity.

Keywords: COVID-19; physical activity; resilience; emotions; depression; lockdown (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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