Understanding primary school children’s physical activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the role of sport self-concept, enjoyment and mood regulation

Abstract

Cognitive and affective factors play an important role in the initiation and maintenance of physical activity (PA), even in childhood. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a physically and mentally stressful time for children. However, little is known about the relevance of PA-related cognitive and affective variables regarding children’s PA during this time. Therefore, this study investigated how primary school children’s sport self-concept, PA enjoyment, and PA-related mood regulation were related to their PA levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 838 students with a mean age of 9.59 years (SD = 0.81) via questionnaires during a period of changing pandemic containment measures in Germany, late May to mid-June 2021. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model. Controlling for context and demographic variables, results showed a significant predictive role of sport self-concept in children’s PA (b = 0.34, p = 0.02). PA enjoyment as well as PA-related mood regulation did not show a significant predictive value in this context. The shown sport selfconcept’s resilience in maintaining children's PA, even under the pandemic’s challenging conditions, emphasizes its crucial role for childhood development. The insignificant results regarding the affect-related variables (i. e., PA enjoyment, and PA-related mood regulation) might be attributed to the pandemic’s unique psychological and social impacts, which could alter the children’s perceptions and enjoyment of PA. Furthermore, the results suggest the need for future research to explore the causal relationships between these psychological constructs and PA in children, contributing to the development of targeted interventions to address physical inactivity in this age group.