Physical activity, anxiety, depression, and coping in Turkish men and women during the first wave of COVID-19

A need exists to better understand the relationships between COVID-19, coping behaviors, physical activity and stress, and COVID-19's impact on way of life. A cross-sectional study design was used to examine adult physical activity, hope, depression, anxiety, and coping status by gender during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine the impact of these variables on the coping process. The study also examined the effect of gender on the relation between physical activity and dependent variables. A global survey instrument was used in this study, including 1,400 Turkish adults. This study identified significant gender-based differences regarding physical activity, hope, depression, anxiety, and coping status of adults, although no significant gender-based difference was found regarding hope scores. Furthermore, physical activity directly influenced coping (β = 0.10), hope (β = 0.12), and anxiety (β = -0.08). Hope directly and positively influenced coping (β = 0.45) and directly and negatively influenced anxiety (β = -0.25) and depression (β = -0.28). Moreover, gender did not directly affect physical activity, but it was associated with decreased coping and increased depression and anxiety. Finally, gender had no effect on the relation between physical activity and hope, coping, depression, and anxiety (p > 0.01). These outcomes support the critical importance of physical activity and hope when coping with COVID-19 regardless of gender.