Comparative Study of the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Nutritional Practices Among International Elite and Sub-Elite Athletes: A Sample of 1420 Participants from 14 Countries

Taheri M 1 , Saad HB 2 , Washif JA 3 , Reynoso-Sánchez LF 4 , Mirmoezzi M 5 , Youzbashi L 6 Show all authors , Trabelsi K 7 , Moshtagh M 8 , Muñoz-Helú H 9 , Mataruna-Dos-Santos LJ 10 , Seghatoleslami A 11 , Torabi F 12 , Soylu Y 13 , Kurt C 14 , Vancini RL 15 , Delkash S 12 , Rezaei MS 16 , Ashouri M 17 , Tahira S 18 , Sayyah M 19 , Chtourou H 20 , Dergaa I 21 , Strahler J 22 , Guimarães-Mataruna AF 23 , Lebaron TW 24 , Ezdini ES 25 , Alizade A 26 , Zouhal H 27 , Tarnava AT 28 , Clark C 29 , Bigdeli N 30 , Ammar A 31 , Eken Ö 32 , Ayed KB 33 , Bragazzi NL 34 , Nobari H 35 , Thuany M 36 , Weiss K 37 , Knechtle B 38 , Irandoust K 16

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences in Sports, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. taheri.mortza@ut.ac.ir
  • 2 Faculty of Medicine, Research Laboratory "Heart Failure, LR12SP09", Farhat HACHED Hospital, University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia
  • 3 Sports Performance Division, Institut Sukan Negara Malaysia (National Sports Institute of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Autonomous University of Occident, Los Mochis, Mexico
  • 5 Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
  • 6 Department of Sport Science, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
  • 7 Research Laboratory: Education, Motricité, Sport et Santé, EM2S, LR19JS01, High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
  • 8 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Faculty of Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
  • 9 Department of Economic-Administrative Sciences, Autonomous University of Occident, Los Mochis, Mexico
  • 10 Sport Management Department, Faculty of Management, Canadian University Dubai, City Walk, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • 11 Faculty of Sports Science, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
  • 12 Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
  • 13 Faculty of Sport Sciences, Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Türkiye
  • 14 Kirkpinar Sport Sciences Faculty, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey
  • 15 Center for Physical Education and Sports, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
  • 16 Department of Sport Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran
  • 17 Department of Sports Physiology, University of Mazandran, Babolsar, Iran
  • 18 Department of Psychology, Virtual University of Pakistan, Lahore, Pakistan
  • 19 Trauma Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
  • 20 High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
  • 21 Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar
  • 22 Sportpsychology, Department of Sport and Sport Science, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
  • 23 Department of Communication and Arts, University of Beira Interior, Covilha, Portugal
  • 24 Department of Kinesiology and Outdoor Recreation, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT, USA
  • 25 University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
  • 26 School of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran
  • 27 Laboratoire Mouvement, Sport, Santé, University Rennes, Rennes, France
  • 28 Natural Wellness Now Health Products Inc., Maple Ridge, BC, Canada
  • 29 Faculty of Health, Education, and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK
  • 30 Control Engineering Department, Faculty of Technical and Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran
  • 31 Department of Training and Movement Science, Institute of Sport Science, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
  • 32 Department of Physical Education and Sport Teaching, Inonu University, 44000, Malatya, Turkey
  • 33 High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Kef. University of Jendouba, El Kef, Tunisia
  • 34 Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (LIAM), York University, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada
  • 35 Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10003, Cáceres, Spain
  • 36 Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport (CIFI2D), Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
  • 37 Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 38 Medbase St. Gallen Am Vadianplatz, Vadianstrasse 26, 9001, St. Gallen, Switzerland. beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch
Sports Med Open, 2023 Nov 08;9(1):104.
PMID: 37938473 DOI: 10.1186/s40798-023-00653-w

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although several studies have shown that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown has had negative impacts on mental health and eating behaviors among the general population and athletes, few studies have examined the long-term effects on elite and sub-elite athletes. The present study aimed to investigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health and eating behaviors in elite versus sub-elite athletes two years into the pandemic. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted between March and April 2022, involving athletes from 14 countries, using a convenient non-probabilistic and snowball sampling method. A total of 1420 athletes (24.5 ± 7.9 years old, 569 elites, 35% women, and 851 sub-elites, 45% women) completed an online survey-based questionnaire. The questionnaire included a sociodemographic survey, information about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) for mental health assessment, and the Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants (REAP-S) for assessing eating behavior.

RESULTS: The results showed that compared to sub-elite athletes, elite athletes had lower scores on the DASS-21 (p = .001) and its subscales of depression (p = .003), anxiety (p = .007), and stress (p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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