Longitudinal Shifts in Movement Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relations to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among University Students

Jie Feng, Patrick Wing Chung Lau, Lei Shi and Wendy Yajun Huang ()
Additional contact information
Jie Feng: Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China
Patrick Wing Chung Lau: Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China
Lei Shi: Laboratory of Exercise Science and Health, BNU-HKBU United International College, Zhuhai 519088, China
Wendy Yajun Huang: Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-12

Abstract: This study examined the longitudinal changes of movement behaviors and their relationships with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 in China. A total of 569 university students completed online surveys twice (Time 1: between December 2020 and January 2021; Time 2: between November and December 2021). Physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration and quality, as well as PTSD were self-reported. According to Canadian 24-h movement guidelines, the longitudinal shifts in each movement behavior from Time 1 to Time 2 were divided into four categories (consistently meeting the guidelines, from meeting to not meeting the guidelines, from not meeting to meeting the guidelines, and consistently not meeting the guidelines). Generalized linear mixed models were conducted using 410 valid responses (20.2 ± 1.0 years old at Time 2, 41.2% males). From Time 1 to Time 2, 22.2%, 2.0%, and 45.6% of the students consistently met the physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep guidelines, respectively. Compared to those who consistently met the sedentary behavior guideline, students who consistently failed to meet or changed from meeting to not meeting the guidelines had higher levels of PTSD. Students who had poor sleep quality at both time points or changed from good to bad sleep quality had higher levels of PTSD than those who maintained good sleep quality over time. Compared to those who consistently failed to meet the guideline, students who consistently met the PA guideline had higher levels of PTSD. These findings highlight the needs to improve and maintain healthy behaviors for mental health.

Keywords: physical activity; sedentary behavior; sleep; posttraumatic stress disorder; undergraduate; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13449/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13449/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13449-:d:945517

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().