Associations of exercise and social support with mental health during quarantine and social-distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey in Germany

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction</jats:title><jats:p>Social distancing and quarantine measures applied during the COVID-19 pandemic might result in mental health problems. In this cross-sectional study we examined if perceived social support, exercise in minutes per week and change in exercise are protective factors regarding symptoms of depression, anxiety, and sleeping disorders.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Method</jats:title><jats:p>In April 2020, n = 4271 German adults completed an online survey including mental health questionnaires regarding depression (PHQ-D), anxiety (PHQ-D) and sleep (PSQI), as well as questionnaires related to protective factors such as exercise (BSA-F), physical activity-related health competence (PAHCO) and social support (F-SozU).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Complete case analysis (n = 3700; mean age 33.13 ± 11.73 years, 78.6 % females) resulted in elevated prevalence of depressive disorder (31.4%), panic disorder (5.7%) and other anxiety disorders (7.4%). 58.3% reported symptoms of insomnia. Three separate models of multiple regression were conducted. Perceived social support was associated with lower values of anxiety (<jats:italic>beta</jats:italic> = −0.10; <jats:italic>t</jats:italic>(19) = −6.46; <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> >0.001), lower values of depressive symptoms (<jats:italic>beta</jats:italic> = −0.22; <jats:italic>t</jats:italic>(19) = −15.71; <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> < .001) and lower values of sleeping disorder symptoms (<jats:italic>beta</jats:italic> = −0.15; <jats:italic>t</jats:italic>(19) = −9.55; <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> < .001). Change towards less exercise compared to the time before Covid-19 was associated with and higher values of anxiety (<jats:italic>beta</jats:italic> = −0.05; <jats:italic>t</jats:italic>(19) = −2.85; <jats:italic>p</jats:italic>= .004), higher values of depressive symptoms (<jats:italic>beta</jats:italic> = −0.08; <jats:italic>t</jats:italic>(19) = - 5.69; <jats:italic>p <</jats:italic> .001), and higher values of sleeping disorder symptoms (<jats:italic>beta</jats:italic> = −0.07; <jats:italic>t</jats:italic>(19) = −4.54; <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> < .000). Post-hoc analysis (ANOVAs) revealed that a change towards less exercise was significantly associated with more depressive, anxiety and sleeping disorder symptoms whereas a positive change was not. No significant association was found for exercise in minutes per week for all outcomes.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have a negative impact on mental health in the German population. Social Support and a stable amount of exercise might attenuate these negative mental health consequences. Ongoing monitoring of the impact of the pandemic on mental health and possible protective factors is needed in order to create a basis for the development of appropriate prevention and intervention measures.</jats:p></jats:sec>