{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,25]],"date-time":"2026-01-25T13:23:09Z","timestamp":1769347389393,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,6]],"date-time":"2021-09-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1630886400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sports Act. Living"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Purpose:<\/jats:bold> The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the sporting and exercise activities of millions of youth. Running is an activity that could be maintained while social distancing restrictions were implemented during the pandemic. However, a recent study has indicated that youth runners reported lower running distance, frequency, and intensity during COVID-19. The reason for this reduction and the impact on overall well-being is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if the social distancing restrictions during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic influenced running motives, socialization, wellness and mental health in youth long-distance runners.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> A customized, open online questionnaire was provided to runners 9\u201319 years of age who participated in long-distance running activities including team\/club cross-country, track and field (distances \u2265800 m), road races, or recreational running. Participants responded to questions about demographics, motive for running, and wellness (sleep quality, anxiety, running enjoyment, food consumption quality) 6-months before as well as during social distancing restrictions due to COVID-19. Wilcoxon signed rank tests compared differences for ratio data and Chi-square tests were used to compare proportions before and during COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. Statistical significance was set at <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> \u2264 0.05.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> A total of 287 youth long-distance runners (male = 124, female = 162, unspecified = 1; age = 15.3 \u00b1 1.7 years; running experience = 5.0 \u00b1 2.3 years) participated. Compared to their pre-COVID-19 responses, youth long-distance runners reported lower overall motivation to run (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001) and changes to most motive rankings (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001 to <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.71). The proportion of youth running alone increased during COVID-19 (65.8%) compared to pre-COVID-19 (13.8%, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001). Youth long-distance runners also reported less running enjoyment (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.001), longer sleep duration (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001), lower sleep quality (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.05), more anxiety (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.043), and lower food quality consumed (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001) during COVID-19 social distance restrictions.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusion:<\/jats:bold> The COVID-19 social distancing restrictions resulted in significant decreases in motivation and enjoyment of running. The removal of competition and team-based interactions likely had a role in these decreases for this population. Continuing team-based activities (e.g., virtual) during social distancing may help with maintaining motivation of youth long-distance runners. Reduced running occurred concurrently with reduced overall well-being of youth long-distance runners during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fspor.2021.696264","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,6]],"date-time":"2021-09-06T19:15:16Z","timestamp":1630955716000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Changes in Motivation, Socialization, Wellness and Mental Health in Youth Long-Distance Runners During COVID-19 Social Distancing Restrictions"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"3","author":[{"given":"David M.","family":"Bazett-Jones","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Micah C.","family":"Garcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jeffery A.","family":"Taylor-Haas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jason T.","family":"Long","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mitchell J.","family":"Rauh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mark V.","family":"Paterno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kevin R.","family":"Ford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3065","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18063065","article-title":"Effect of COVID-19-related home confinement on sleep quality, screen time and physical activity in tunisian boys and girls: a survey","volume":"18","author":"Abid","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. 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