Dr. Poblete-Valderrama, Felipe

In sports and taekwondo in particular, it is of interest to understand the impact of sociodemographic and physical factors of athletes during this period, as well as their impact on psychological health. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between physical activity levels, demographic factors, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown in Taekwondo athletes. Seventy-eight male Taekwondo athletes (35 ± 14.6 years) at national and international levels participated in an online survey during the COVID-19 Lockdown period in September 2020. The factors analyzed included expertise, socioeconomic status, education, and physical ac-tivity levels. The main findings of this study indicated that university education level was significantly associated with both well-being and lower distress (χ2 = 7.0; p = 0.03). Similarly, athletes with a moderate level of physical activity showed a significant association with their state of well-being (χ2 = 7.0; p = 0.03) and absence of distress (χ2 = 10.5; p = 0.00). However, no significant associations were found between technical level and age category with well-being or distress. Our findings showed that the lockdown negatively affected both total physical activity levels and psychological well-being in Colombian Taekwondo Athletes. A higher educational level allows for a greater understanding of the situations presented during the pandemic, and the level of physical activity is a determinant of the mental health of athletes.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between anxiety, self-esteem, happiness index and primary school students’ academic performance in Chilean adolescents from the Biobío province. Methodology: 733 (46.1% girls; 12 (1.3 years)) public primary school students that completed the 2018 Health and School Performance Survey carried out in the Biobío province were included in this cross-sectional analysis. The BECK Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to measure anxiety while happiness index and self-esteem were measured using the subjective happiness scale and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, respectively. School performance was measured by grade point average (GPA) of language, math, physical education and cumulative GPA, and behavior associated with cognition in the school context was also considered. The relationship between mental health indicators and school performance was investigated using a one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Results: In comparison to students with low anxiety levels and high self-esteem and happiness levels, students with higher anxiety levels, lower self-esteem and happiness levels perceived themselves as having memory problems. They were also slower to solve math problems, had a shorter attention span in class and presented more difficulties in solving complex tasks, as well as being more nervous during testing. These students also got the lowest grade point average in math, language and physical education. Conclusions: High anxiety levels, low self-esteem and low happiness levels were associated with lower school performance and weaker behavior associated with cognition in Chilean adolescents. Implementing plans of emotional education and mental health could improve academic achievement.