The impact of physical activity on psychological well-being and perceived health status during coronavirus pandemic in university students

To investigate changes in moderate and vigorous physical activity (PA), and find correlation with psychological well-being and perceived health status in university students prior to versus 4–6 weeks following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic Registered students to the 2020/2021 academic year participated in an online survey representing four Hungarian universities in the framework of “COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study” project. Moderate and vigorous PA were measured with a single question, psychological well-being was evaluated using the Center for Epidemiological Studies − Depression Scale (CES-D) short form and perceived health status on the 11-point Cantril ladder respectively. Statistical analyses were calculated using SPSS 26.0 software A total of 2779 Hungarian citizen students completed the questionnaire and 2162 (27.7% males) provided full information on PA. Mean age was 24.52 (SD = 7.15) years. A significant decrease was observed in moderate PA prior to and during social isolation (Z = -14.956; p