In total, 127 people started the questionnaire. The data analysis comprised the responses of 99 participants (66 female), after cleaning up for incomplete questionnaires and unfit inclusion criteria. Almost half of the participants were in the age range 25-34 years (44%) and 19% of participants were aged between 35 and 44 years old. Most participants were living with a partner or with a partner and children (46% and 26% respectively). Other living situations included living alone (15%) or living in a student house or with parents (13%). Around 75% of the participants were living and working in the Netherlands. Those not living and working in the Netherlands listed Greece (n = 8), United Kingdom (n = 3), Germany (n = 8), Spain (n = 2), Portugal (n = 1), Belgium (n = 1), and Ireland (n = 1) as living and/or working country. Table 1 provides an overview of the demographic characteristics of the included participants.
Table 1: Basic characteristics of study participants.
Characteristic
|
N (%)
|
Gender
|
Male
|
33 (33%)
|
Female
|
66 (67%)
|
Age
|
18-24
|
13 (13%)
|
25-34
|
44 (44%)
|
35-44
|
19 (19%)
|
45-54
|
10 (10%)
|
55-64
|
13 (13%)
|
Living situation
|
Alone
|
15 (15%)
|
Together with partner
|
45 (46%)
|
Together with partner and children
|
26 (26%)
|
Other
|
13 (13%)
|
Working Country
|
The Netherlands
|
72 (72%)
|
Other
|
18 (18%)
|
Twenty-seven percent of the participants considered becoming more physically active during the lockdown – the more-active group. Twenty-eight percent did not perceive a change in physical activity level – the equally-active group, and 44% considered becoming less active – the less-active group. In general, participants scored high on introjected regulation (mean 5.08, SD 1.06), integrated regulation (mean 4.66, SD 1.43), identified regulation (mean 4.48, SD 1.49), and intrinsic motivation (mean 4.02, SD 1.50) and scored low on external regulation (mean 2.24, SD 0.99) and a-motivation (mean 2.19, SD 1.19). When comparing the motivational profile with the perceived change in physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown, the more-active group scored significantly higher than the less-active group on intrinsic motivation (mean difference = 0.91, p < 0.05) and on identified regulation (mean difference = 0.89, p < 0.05). The less-active group scored significantly lower than the equally-active group on identified regulation (mean difference = -1.05, p<0.01) and higher on a-motivation (mean difference = 0.84, p<0.01). After grouping the components of extrinsic motivation (integrated regulation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, and external regulation) into a single score, the equally-active group scored significantly higher on this motivational profile than the less-active group (mean difference 0.56, p < 0.05). Figure 1 illustrates the comparison of the scores in intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and a-motivation per group of perceived change in physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown.
[place here] Fig. 1 Average score of motivational profile to engage in physical activity and respective standard deviation per perceived change in physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown. Extrinsic motivation encompasses integrated regulation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, and external regulation
The computation of the predominant motivational profile of each participant resulted in 45 participants given allocated to the intrinsic-motivated group, 45 participants to the extrinsic-motivated group, and 9 participants to the a-motivated group. The a-motivated group was mostly composed of participants who perceived becoming less active while working remotely (N=7, 78%). Almost half of the participants in the extrinsically motivated group reported becoming less active (N=20, 44%) followed by equally active (N=16, 36%). The intrinsic-motivated group was the most heterogeneous in terms of perceived change in physical activity with 17 participants reporting becoming less active (38%) and the other 17 reporting becoming more active (38%).
Table 2 summarizes the average scores given to the facilitators and barriers per group on reported change in physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown. In general, the equally-active group scored the facilitators higher than the more-active and less-active group (mean = 3.09 compared to 3.04 and 2.72, respectively). In turn, the less-active group scored the barriers higher than the equally-active and more-active groups (mean = 2.63 compared to 2.02 and 1.90, respectively). The highest scored facilitators by the more-active group were (1) no work travel, (2) good weather, and (3) flexible work schedule. The highest scored barriers by the less-active group were (1) no active transportation, (2) closed sports facilities, and (3) time spent on household chores.
Table 2: Mean scores of facilitators and barriers to physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown separated by a perceived change in physical activity.
|
less-active
(N=44)
|
equally-active
(N=28)
|
more-active
(N=27)
|
all
|
|
mean
|
SD
|
mean
|
SD
|
mean
|
SD
|
mean
|
SD
|
Facilitators
|
Flexible work schedule
|
3,27
|
1,13
|
3,86
|
0,76
|
3,56
|
1,22
|
3,52
|
1,08
|
Less work obligations
|
2,57
|
1,17
|
3,18
|
1,25
|
2,56
|
1,22
|
2,74
|
1,23
|
Active for job
|
1,61
|
0,75
|
2,18
|
1,19
|
1,89
|
1,05
|
1,85
|
0,99
|
No work travel
|
2,84
|
1,16
|
3,11
|
1,20
|
4,00
|
0,92
|
3,23
|
1,20
|
Less social obligations
|
2,93
|
1,17
|
3,46
|
1,26
|
3,48
|
1,01
|
3,23
|
1,18
|
Access to facilities
|
2,57
|
1,25
|
3,39
|
1,29
|
3,48
|
0,89
|
3,05
|
1,24
|
Taking care of children
|
1,98
|
1,19
|
1,93
|
1,15
|
1,52
|
0,89
|
1,84
|
1,11
|
Online workouts
|
2,84
|
1,18
|
2,89
|
1,29
|
2,93
|
1,39
|
2,88
|
1,26
|
Good weather
|
3,86
|
0,85
|
3,79
|
0,83
|
3,96
|
1,09
|
3,87
|
0,91
|
Mean
|
2,72
|
|
3,09
|
|
3,04
|
|
2,91
|
|
Barriers
|
Work-related fatigue
|
2,86
|
1,21
|
2,36
|
1,19
|
2,37
|
1,28
|
2,59
|
1,24
|
No time due to job
|
2,77
|
1,12
|
2,21
|
1,23
|
2,00
|
1,11
|
2,40
|
1,19
|
Not with colleagues
|
2,48
|
1,27
|
1,64
|
1,06
|
2,04
|
1,19
|
2,12
|
1,23
|
No active transportation
|
3,77
|
1,24
|
3,00
|
1,39
|
1,74
|
0,98
|
3,00
|
1,47
|
Care ill family
|
1,43
|
0,70
|
1,21
|
0,42
|
1,33
|
0,62
|
1,34
|
0,61
|
Care for children
|
1,91
|
1,29
|
1,46
|
0,88
|
1,48
|
0,98
|
1,67
|
1,12
|
Poor health
|
1,59
|
0,95
|
1,43
|
0,74
|
1,26
|
0,53
|
1,45
|
0,80
|
Fear of breaking social distance
|
2,55
|
1,47
|
1,82
|
0,91
|
2,07
|
1,24
|
2,21
|
1,30
|
Closed sport facilities
|
3,66
|
1,64
|
2,50
|
1,37
|
2,33
|
1,47
|
2,97
|
1,63
|
No group activities
|
2,93
|
1,55
|
2,39
|
1,13
|
2,19
|
1,50
|
2,58
|
1,45
|
No social support
|
2,50
|
1,36
|
2,04
|
1,00
|
1,70
|
0,82
|
2,15
|
1,17
|
Time spent in household chores
|
2,98
|
1,34
|
2,54
|
1,23
|
2,33
|
1,27
|
2,68
|
1,31
|
Not allowed to go outdoors
|
2,80
|
1,51
|
1,65
|
0,69
|
1,87
|
1,22
|
2,22
|
1,34
|
Mean
|
2,63
|
|
2,02
|
|
1,90
|
|
2,26
|
|
Figures 2 and 3 provide the average rating of facilitators and barriers, respectively, to physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown, comparing among predominant motivational profiles. The facilitators and barriers to physical activity during COVID-19 were perceived similarly by the intrinsic-motivated and extrinsic-motivated groups. The a-motivated group rated the facilitators considerably lower and the barriers considerably higher than the other two groups. ‘Good weather’ and ‘flexible work schedule’ were the first and second highest-rated facilitators by the three groups. ‘No work travel’ was in third place for the intrinsic-motivated (mean = 3.40, SD 1.16) and a-motivated (mean = 2.89, SD 1.36) groups. ‘Less social obligations’ was the third most important facilitator to physical activity for the extrinsic-motivated group (mean = 3.33, SD 1.17). ‘No active transportation’ was the highest-rated barrier for the a-motivated (mean = 4.33, SD 1.0) and extrinsic-motivated (mean = 3.07, SD 1.39) groups. The second most relevant barrier to the a-motivated group was the fear to risk social distancing (mean = 4.00, SD 1.12), followed by the time spent in ‘household chores’ and ‘not allowed to go outdoors’ (mean=3.89, SD 0.93). ‘Closed facilities’ and ‘no-group activities’ were the second and third most relevant barriers for the extrinsic-motivated group (means = 2.96 and 2.67, respectively).
[place here] Fig. 2 Mean scores of the relevance of each facilitator to physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown separated by predominant motivational profile: intrinsic-motivated (N=45), extrinsic-motivated (N=45), and a-motivated (N=9). Participants were asked to rate how much they agreed with the facilitators on a scale from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree)
[place here] Fig. 3 Mean scores of the relevance of each barrier to physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown separated by predominant motivational profile: intrinsic motivation (N=45), extrinsic motivation (N=45), and a-motivation (N=9). Participants were asked to rate how much they agreed with the barriers on a scale from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree)