SOCIAL DISTANCING AND QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG CANDIDATES FOR THE SPORTS SCIENCES DEGREE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of compliance with COVID-19 social distancing measures and the COVID-19 impact on the quality of life of the candidate students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences, according to their gender, whether they are licensed athletes or non-athletes, whether they are individual athletes or team athletes. Overall, 1083 candidate students, including 364 females and 719 males, participated in the study. The Turkish version of the Social Distancing Scale and the COVID-19 Impact on Quality of Life Scale were used to collect data. Statistical analyses were performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. The results showed that the level of compliance with COVID-19 social distancing measures of female and male candidates is high and the impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life of female and male candidates is below the average. It was also found that there was a difference in favor of unlicensed candidates between the level of compliance with COVID-19 social distancing measures between licensed athletes and unlicensed candidates; and the COVID-19 impact on the quality of life of licensed athletes and unlicensed candidates was similar, being below the average. The level of compliance with COVID-19 social distancing measures in individual or team athletes was higher, and the negative impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life of both groups was below the average. There was no relationship between the level of compliance with COVID-19 social distancing measures and the COVID-19 impact on the quality of life of licensed athletes, and there was a weak negative relationship between the level of compliance with COVID-19 social distancing measures and COVID-19 impact on the quality of life of unlicensed candidates.