Physical Wellness Differences Between Athletes And Non-athletes Among Undergraduate Cohorts Before, During And After Covid-19

Few studies have assessed if differences in levels of physical wellness exercise (PWE) during the pandemic for collegiate student-athletes (SAs) and non-athletes (non-SAs) exist. PURPOSE: To compare PWE scores between SAs and non-SAs from pre-, during, “semi-post”, and current COVID-19 pandemic time periods for different cohorts of students across the nation. METHODS: A cohort survey design was used with 3,823 undergraduate students (SAs 22%; Non-SAs 76%) who completed the online, 45-item Multi-Dimensional Wellness Inventory as a part of a required wellness course which measured one’s perceived behavior with respect to personal wellness orientation. Participants identified as female (63%), non-Hispanic (86%) and white (75%) and were enrolled in institutions smaller than 15,000 students (96.5%), situated in the Midwest (72%), and from private 4-year institutions (85%). Cohort time periods/groupings were: All 2017-Fall 2019 pre-COVID-19 students (Cohort 1, pre); Spring 2020-Fall 2020 students during COVID-19 lockdowns with courses moved to online instruction (Cohort 2, during); Spring 2021-Fall 2021 students during late COVID-19 with schools re-opening and resuming face-to-face instruction (Cohort 3, semi-post); and Spring 2022-Fall 2022 students identified as the “back to normal” group but with COVID-19 still present (Cohort 4, current). Repeated measures ANOVA 4 (Cohort Time Groups) x 2 (SA/Non-SA) x 2 (Pre-Post Repeat) was used to analyze the differences in PWE scores. RESULTS: Findings for PWE scores demonstrated a group x athlete x repeat interaction F(3,3077) = 8.94, p < 0.001, partial eta squared = 0.01. CONCLUSION: Overall, a small effect size was seen indicating that both SAs and non-SAs increased their PWE pre-to post semester score but at different rates of change. However, SAs’ PWE scores decreased across the four cohort time periods while non-SAs scores were flat with an increase observed in the last time period (Cohort 4, current). SAs in the last cohort may have not perceived their PWE levels or the opportunities to be physically active as “back to normal” due to the influences of past lockdown protocols and disruptions in training and practice.