The effect of physical activity and individual recreational games on improving the psychological profile of children and adolescents with coronavirus anxiety

Subject Areas : Sport psychology

Fatemeh Amiri Ghaleh Rashidi ¹

1 - Department of Physical Education, ISL. C., Islamic Azad University, Islamshahr, Iran,

Received: 2025-05-12 Accepted : 2025-08-11 Published : 2025-08-13

Keywords: Physical activity, Psychological profile, Corona anxiety, Body image, Self-efficacy,

Abstract :

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of physical activity and individual recreational games on improving the psychological profile of children and adolescents with coronavirus anxiety.

Methods: The present study is applied in terms of its purpose and semi-experimental in terms of data collection. Also, the method of the present study was field-based in terms of data collection. The statistical population of this study was all female high school students in the second district of Tehran, whose number was estimated to be 2231 in the academic year 2010-2011 based on an inquiry from the Tehran Education Department. Based on the Morgan table, 333 people were selected as the research sample using cluster random sampling method, and in the next stage, by distributing questionnaires, 60 people who scored the highest on the coronavirus anxiety questionnaire were selected conveniently and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. Then, the researcher prepared a virtual education program for the students for 12 weeks, which was held twice a week, each session lasting 1 hour. The data collection tools included the Body Image Questionnaire by Kash et al. (1987), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire by Sherer et al. (1982). In this study, descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. In the descriptive statistics section, the calculation of the mean and standard deviation was used, and in the inferential statistics section, the analysis of covariance test was used.

Results: The results of the study showed that physical activity and individual recreational games have a significant effect on improving the psychological profile (body image, mental health, and self-efficacy) of children and adolescents with corona anxiety.

References:

Aghakhanbabaei, M., Motafari, A., Poursoltan-Zarandi, H. (2016). The mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between social support and participation in physical activity among students, Contemporary Research in Sports Management, 6(11), 63-72. (In Persian). DOI: https://journals.basu.ac.ir/article_1612.html.
Bolboli, L., Habibi, Y., Rajabi, A. (2013). The effect of exercise hours on body image, body mass and social anxiety in students. Journal of School Psychology. 2(2). 29-43. (In Persian). DOI: https://jsp.uma.ac.ir/article_61.html.
Borzekoeski, D.L, & Bayer, A.M, (2005), Body image and media use among adolescents, Adolescent Medicine Clinics.16 (2), 289 – 302. DOI: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dina-Borzekowski/publication/7648354.
Boyd, M.P., Weinmann, C., and Yin, Z. (2002). “The relationship of physical self – perceptions and Goal Orientations to intrinsic motivation for exercise”. Journal of sport behavior, 25(1),PP: 1-18. DOI: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt.
Cheng L.A., Mendonca G, Cazuza J. Júnior F., (2013). Physical activity in adolescents: analysis of the social influence of parents and friends. Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jped.2013.05.006.
Cruyff, J. (2020). The impact of the Covid-19 on the management of sport organizations. Johan Cruyff Institute. DOI: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt.
Dan, Zh. (2020). China adopts non-contact free consultation to help the public cope with the psychological pressure caused by new coronavirus pneumonia. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. Available online 10 April 2020, In Press. DOI: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7151293/.
Eskandernejad, M., Fathzadeh, L. (2017). The effect of aerobic exercise on body image concerns, identity crisis and body mass index in girls concerned about body image, Quarterly Journal of Health Promotion Management, 6(2), 42-34. (In Persian). DOI: https://jhpm.ir/browse.php?a_id=654&sid=1&slc_lang=fa
Evans, A. B., Blackwell, J., Dolan, P., Fahlén, J., Hoekman, R., Lenneis, V., & Wilcock, L. (2020). Sport in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: towards an agenda for research in the sociology of sport. European Journal for Sport and Society, 17(2), 85-95.‏ DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/16138171.2020.1765100
Fernandes, M. P., Bomfim, E. S., de Almeida, L. A. B., & Santos, C. P. C. D. (2021). Association of Profile of Physical Activity with Body Self-Image in Obese Individuals Post-Bariatric Surgery. Bariatric Surgical Practice and Patient Care, 16(2), 116-122.‏ DOI: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt.
Garcia, A. C., Sousa, R., Varela, A., & Monteiro, L. (2021). Bullying, physical activity, and body image among Brazilian students. Journal of health psychology, 26(10), 1661-1673.‏ DOI: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359105319884598.
Hughes, D., Saw, R., Perera, N. K. P., Mooney, M., Wallett, A., Cooke, J., & Broderick, C. (2020). The Australian Institute of Sport framework for rebooting sport in a COVID-19 environment. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1440244020305272.
Jakobsson, J., Malm, C., Furberg, M., Ekelund, U., & Svensson, M. (2020). Physical activity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: prevention of a decline in metabolic and immunological functions. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2, 57. DOI: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q.
Javadian-Sarraf, N., Imam, T. (2008). The effect of aerobic and yoga training methods on female students' self-descriptive body components, Scientific Research Journal of Principles of Mental Health, Fall, Year 10, Issue 3 (39), pp. 230-221. (In Persian). DOI: https://jfmh.mums.ac.ir/article_1695.html.
Kololo, Hanna.Guszkowska, Monika.Mazur, Joanna.Dzielska,Anna. (2012).Self-efficacy,self-esteemand body image as psychological determinants of 15-year-old adolescents physical activity leavels.Human movement. vol. 13 (3), 264– 270. DOI: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q.
Mazloumi, S., Mohammadi, M., Marvati, M. (2010). Exercise and its relationship with self-efficacy based on the model of stages of change in employees of Yazd in 2008; Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences; 4, 346-354. (In Persian). DOI: https://sid.ir/paper/289/fa
Mousavi Moghadam, S., Tavan, H., Sayeh Miri Korosh, N. (2014). Study of the general health status of male and female students in middle school in Ilam city in 2013-2014. Scientific Journal of Ilam University of Medical Sciences. 22 (2): 57-65. (In Persian). DOI: https://sjimu.medilam.ac.ir/browse.php?a_id=1088&sid=1&slc_lang.
Narici, M., De Vito, G., Franchi, M., Paoli, A., Moro, T., Marcolin, G., & Di Girolamo, F. G. (2020). Impact of sedentarism due to the COVID-19 home confinement on neuromuscular, cardiovascular and metabolic health: Physiological and pathophysiological implications and recommendations for physical and nutritional countermeasures. European Journal of Sport Science, 1, 1-22. DOI: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17461391.2020.1761076.
Papathomas, A., Petrie, T. A., & Plateau, C. R. (2018). Changes in body image perceptions upon leaving elite sport: The retired female athlete paradox. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 7(1), 30.‏ DOI: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2017-51601-001.html.
Peterson M.S., (2012). The role of self-efficacy as a mediator between parent social support and physical activity in male and female adolescents. University of South Carolina. p. 79. DOI: https://www.proquest.com/openview/7b4c88fe34126210fca90.
Qin, F., Song, Y., Nassis, G. P., Zhao, L., Dong, Y., Zhao, C., & Zhao, J. (2020). Physical Activity, Screen Time, and Emotional Well-Being during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(14), 5170. DOI: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/14/5170.
Salahshouri, F., Sepideh, Q. (2011). The relationship between aggression, self-efficacy and sports performance, First National Conference of New Scientific Achievements in the Development of Sports and Physical Education, Gorgan, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan Branch. (In Persian). DOI:
https://civilica.com/doc/167679.
Schellhorn, P., Klingel, K., & Burgstahler, C. (2020). Return to sports after COVID-19 infectionDo we have to worry about myocarditis? European Heart Journal. DOI: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/41/46/4382/5841105.
Staiano, A. E., Beyl, R. A., Hsia, D. S., Katzmarzyk, P. T., & Newton, R. L. (2016). Twelve weeks of dance exergaming in overweight and obese adolescent girls: transfer effects on physical activity, screen-time, and self-efficacy. Journal of Sport and Health Science.‏ DOI: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S209525461630103X.
Szymanski, M., Wolfe, R. A., Danis, W., Lee, F., & Uy, M. A. (2020). Sport and international management: Exploring research synergy. Thunderbird International Business Review. DOI: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tie.22139.
Timpka, T. (2020). Sport in the tracks and fields of the corona virus: Critical issues during the exit from lockdown. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. DOI: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q.
Wackerhage, H., Everett, R., Krüger, K., Murgia, M., Simon, P., Gehlert, S., & Schönfelder, M. (2020). Sport, Exercise and COVID-19, the Disease Caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus. Dtsch Z Sportmed, 71, E1-E12. DOI: https://www.research.unipd.it/handle/11577/3340446.
Xiang, Y.T., Yang, Y., Zhang, W. Li, L., Zhang, Q, Cheung, T. (2020). Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. DOI: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q.
XiaoXia, S., Ping, X., McBride, R. E., JiLing, L., & Thornton, M. A. (2016). At-risk boys' social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy in a summer sports camp. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 35(2), 159-168.‏ DOI: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.5555/20163169655.
Zare, A. (2018). Studying the role of exercise on the body image of Shiraz University faculty members, National Conference of the Sports Management Association, Payam Noor University, Tehran. (In Persian). DOI: https://itt.cfu.ac.ir/article_1064_8585c0041345cc68469806d7b646e3fd.