ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate how elite female and male volleyball players spent their time during lockdown in terms of keeping up their physical training and maintaining wellbeing as well as their beliefs, attitudes and expectation/perceptions about the upcoming season. Materials and Methods: 331 elite volleyball players took part in the study. A survey, consisted of single and multiple-choice questions was applied. The Chi-square test was used to compare groups' frequency data. Following Chi-square test, Bonferroni correction was made and the statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.01. The significance level was set as p<0.05 for the rest of statistical analyses. Results: 147 (44.4%) male and 184 (55.6%) female players participated in the study. The mean age was 24.8±5.0 (15-37). Female athletes (97.3%) stated that they did more physical activity than male athletes (83.7%) (p<0.001), 40.8% of male athletes thought that they could not maintain their physical condition (p: 0.043). Female players participated exercise programs designed by their conditioners more than male counterparts (p<0.001). Sleep quality which was rated as "good” decreased from 89.8% to 44.2% for male athletes, while it has been decreased from 94.6% to 37.5% for females (p<0.001 for both genders). Conclusion: Majority of athletes had motivation to be physically active during the 9-week lockdown period. Athletes showed that they could overcome training barriers by adapting their exercises and training routines. Female volleyball players were more cautious in terms of being active and avoiding risk of infection.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus outbreak caused significant changes in football around the world, such as the suspension of leagues and home isolation of players, etc. The main purpose of the present study was to assess the psychological impacts of lockdown and similar restrictions on professional football players during the coronavirus pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The players from 36 professional football teams (n = 977) among Turkish Super League and First League teams were invited to complete a questionnaire including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Impact of Event Scale-Revised Scores (IES-R) and short form of International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). RESULTS: The online survey was completed by 237 players (24.3%). The mean number of self-quarantine day of participants was 26.9 ± 6.2 days. The median CES-D Scale and IES-R scores were 6.0 (min:0, max:42) and 23.0 (min:0, max:59), respectively. IPAQ scores of the players showed that four-fifths of the players still maintain high physical activity levels. There were negative, very weak and significant correlations between CES-D score and being married (r = -0.146, p = 0.024), as well as between CES-D score and IPAQ-Walking (r = -0.189, p = 0.004). A significant positive very weak correlation was observed between CES-D score and self-quarantine days (r = 0.148, p = 0.024). IPAQ-Walking was an independent predictor of CES-D. CONCLUSION: These findings support that maintaining regular physical activity and routinely exercising in a safe home environment is one of the most important strategies to ensure healthy mental state.