Did social isolation affect anxiety and sleep quality of elite soccer players during the COVID-19 lockdown? Comparisons to training before distancing in the pandemic and outlook for mental health

Whyllerton Mayron da Cruz; Danilo Reis Coimbra; Guilherme Torres Vilarino; Amândio Manuel Cupido Dos Santos; Vernon Furtado da Silva; Stefania Mancone; Lavinia Falese; Pierluigi Diotaiuti; Alexandro Andrade

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1490862

Did social isolation affect anxiety and sleep quality of elite soccer players during the COVID-19 lockdown? Comparisons to training before distancing in the pandemic and outlook for mental health

Front Psychol. 2024 Nov 29:15:1490862. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1490862. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Whyllerton Mayron da Cruz¹, Danilo Reis Coimbra², Guilherme Torres Vilarino¹, Amândio Manuel Cupido Dos Santos³, Vernon Furtado da Silva⁴, Stefania Mancone⁵, Lavinia Falese⁵, Pierluigi Diotaiuti⁵, Alexandro Andrade¹

Affiliations

¹ Center of Health and Sport Science-CEFID, Santa Catarina State University-UDESC, Florianópolis, Brazil.
² Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
³ Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
⁴ Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Visiting Professor, Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Rondônia, (UNIR), Porto Velho, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Human Sciences, Society and Health, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the anxiety levels and sleep quality of elite soccer athletes in training pre-pandemic and during the lockdown caused by COVID-19.

Method: This is an exploratory study with a longitudinal design carried out with elite soccer athletes from two Brazilian soccer clubs. Data collection took place in person pre-pandemic (training) and online (during lockdown) between February and May 2020. The instruments used to assess sleep, daytime sleepiness, and anxiety were the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Daytime Sleepiness Scale-(ESS-BR), and Competitive Anxiety Scale (SCAT). For data analysis, descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, maximum and minimum) and non-parametric inferential statistics were used, establishing a significance of p < 0.05.

Results: In total, 76 male soccer athletes participated in the study. A significant increase was observed in anxiety levels in confinement compared to pre-pandemic training (p = 0.017; g = 0.83), and sleepiness significantly reduced in training compared to baseline levels (p = 0.007; g = 0.48). The athletes demonstrated good sleep quality and the pandemic did not significantly alter daytime sleepiness compared to training and baseline.

Conclusion: From the results it can be concluded that elite soccer athletes presented alterations in anxiety levels compared to training during confinement, however, no effects of confinement were observed on sleep quality and sleepiness. New studies are needed to analyze the long-term consequences of the pandemic and the relationships between anxiety and sleep in training and competition in athletes.

Keywords: COVID-19; detraining; high performance; mental health; psychological aspects; soccer.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work has been supported by the following Brazilian research agencies: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel-CAPES; Foundation for Research and Innovation Support of the State of Santa Catarina-FAPESC and Support of University of Cassino and Southern Lazio.