The relationship between individual and team athletes' anxiety to catch the novel coronavirus (covid-19) and sleep quality

Aim: to examine the relationship between individual and team athletes' anxiety to catch the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and sleep quality according to different variables. Method: a total of 429 volunteer athletes (262 female and 167 male) took a part in the research who are actively involved in sports. Research data were collected through a questionnaire. The survey questions were delivered to the participants by the researcher through face-to-face interview method and via online survey. As for data collection tools, Athletes' Anxiety to Catch Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Demographic Information Form prepared by the researcher were used. The obtained data were analyzed with the SPSS package program. In addition to descriptive statistics, the normality structure of the distributions was examined through skewness and kurtosis tests. In the comparison of data between two variables, t-test was applied in independent groups, and one-way analysis of variance was applied in the comparison of three or more variables. In addition, Pearson Moments Correlation test and regression analysis were applied. Results: no significant difference was observed between profession, marital status, age of starting sports, smoking status, sports branch and anxiety to catch Covid-19 and PSQI. At the same time, while there was a significant difference between gender, education level, income level and anxiety to catch Covid-19, no significant difference was found with PSQI. In addition, while a significant difference was observed between age and PSQI, there was no significant difference between the anxiety to catch Covid-19. A positive and significant relationship was found between the PSQI scores of the athletes and the anxiety scores to catch Covid-19. Therefore, we can say that as the anxiety levels of catching the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) increase, their sleep quality decreases. Furthermore, it has been determined that the anxiety to catch Covid-19 has a positive and significant predictive power on PSQI. Conclusion: considering these results, a psychosocial support program should be prepared and implemented to help control the anxiety level of catching Covid-19 and increase the low quality sleep it causes