ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 07 December 2020 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.611872 Where Did All the Sport Go? Negative Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Life-Spheres and Mental Health of Spanish Young Athletes Juan Pons 1,2*, Yago Ramis 1,2, Saul Alcaraz 1,2, Anna Jordana 1,2, Marta Borrueco 1,2 and Miquel Torregrossa 1,2 1 Departament de Psicologia Bàsica, Evolutiva i de l’Educació, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain, 2 Sport Research Institute UAB, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain During the 2020, the pandemic caused by the massive spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (COVID-19) resulted in a global crisis. In Spain, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a lockdown for almost 100 days and forced the sudden stop of sport practices and competitions. This interruption had a negative impact on high-level athletes’ mental health. However, its impact Edited by: on young athletes, who are intrinsically developing a high-demanding dual career, remains Juergen Beckmann, unclear. Therefore, this study aimed at (1) describing and characterizing the general impact Technical University of Munich, Germany that COVID-19 lockdown had on Spanish young athletes’ life-spheres and mental health, and Reviewed by: (2) identifying different profiles of athletes regarding life-conditions and sport-related variables. Aurelio Olmedilla, A sample of 544 young athletes (M = 15.9; SD = 1.51) participated in this study. Measures University of Murcia, Spain Ali Boolani, included life-conditions and sport-related information along with the Holistic Monitoring Clarkson University, United States Questionnaire (HMQ) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). After the screening *Correspondence: and description of the data, profiles were defined using a two-level cluster analysis using HMQ Juan Pons and GHQ-12 subscales. We explored differences in demographic and sports information joan.pons.bauza@uab.cat between profiles using MANOVA and subsequent ANOVA. Results suggest a general negative Specialty section: impact of COVID-19 on young athletes’ life-spheres and mental health, but with three different This article was submitted to clusters regarding the degree of such impact. Cluster 1 grouped the 54.78% of the sample Movement Science and Sport Psychology, and exhibited a low negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown on life-spheres and few mental a section of the journal health issues. Cluster 2 grouped a 29.96% of the participants who reported a medium negative Frontiers in Psychology impact on life-spheres and moderate mental health issues. Cluster 3 represented 15.26% of Received: 29 September 2020 Accepted: 18 November 2020 the sample including participants who showed a high negative impact of the COVID-19 Published: 07 December 2020 lockdown with high mental health issues. The paradigmatic participant in this third group Citation: would be a female student-athlete from a medium or low socioeconomic status with high Pons J, Ramis Y, Alcaraz S, academic demands and poor or inexistent training conditions during lockdown. Current Jordana A, Borrueco M and Torregrossa M (2020) Where Did All findings emphasize the need to pay attention to young athletes’ mental health and suggest the Sport Go? Negative Impact of possible influencing contextual variables. We suggest some applied recommendations aimed COVID-19 Lockdown on Life-Spheres and Mental Health of at helping clubs and sports institutions to mitigate the negative effects of such difficult Spanish Young Athletes. circumstances on athletes’ mental health. Front. Psychol. 11:611872. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.611872 Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, student-athletes, holistic approach, adolescent, cluster analysis, wellbeing Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872 Pons et al. Spanish Young Athletes in Lockdown INTRODUCTION youngsters developing a dual career in Spain (Mejías et al., 2020), it is needed to understand the complexity of the recent The year 2020 will remain in History as the year of the confinement in youth sport. Concretely, the aim of this study coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The COVID-19 pandemic1 was two-fold: (1) to describe and characterize the general impact caused a global crisis with social, political, and economic that COVID-19 lockdown had on Spanish young athletes’ life- consequences. In Spain, one of the countries where the pandemic spheres and mental health and (2) to identify different profiles hit harder,2 a state of alarm was declared on March 14, letting of athletes regarding these target variables along with their the population on lockdown and with most of the regular life-conditions and sport-related characteristics. activities restricted for almost 100 days. Young athletes remained without practices and competitions for months. According to the experts in the field, mobility restrictions MATERIALS AND METHODS and social isolation policies developed during COVID-19 lockdown could have a negative impact on population mental Participants health (e.g., Brooks et al., 2020; Papaioannou et al., 2020). Early A total of 833 athletes participated in this study. After applying evidence seems to confirm these predictions (Chen et al., 2020). the inclusion (i.e., having between 13 and 18 years) and exclusion In Spain, González-Sanguino et al. (2020) observed that between (i.e., not completing the full survey or completing it in less 15.8 and 21.6% of the general population showed depressive, than 3 min) criteria, the final sample consisted of 544 athletes anxious, and/or post-traumatic symptoms during the first month (Mage = 15.9; SD = 1.51; ♀ = 48.5%). Participants were lower of confinement. However, to complement these general results, secondary school (63.2%), upper secondary school (27.8%), or there is a need to understand better the consequences of the tertiary education students (9.0%). The sample was composed COVID-19 pandemic within the sports context. of athletes having from 1 to 15 years of sports experience Research addressing the impact of this pandemic in sports (Mexperience = 7.11; SD = 3.11), competing at regional (38.1%), identified specific challenges for athletes’ mental health during autonomic (32.5%), national (23.0%), or international level the lockdown, such as the difficulty in keeping training conditions (6.4%). Most athletes reported having an average (58.6%) or (Pillay et al., 2020), the social distancing from teammates good (32.2%) socioeconomic level and living in a home (50.6%) (Graupensperger et al., 2020), and the uncertainty regarding or flat (33.5%) with garden or courtyard. Nearly all participants the delay or cancelation of future competitions (Samuel et al., (98.9%) stayed with their families during the COVID-19 2020). Despite most of these challenges are common for athletes lockdown. When answering the questionnaire, all of them had of all ages and levels, research has mainly focused on high accumulated between 50 and 100 days of confinement performance, professional, and/or Olympic/Paralympic athletes (Mdays = 72.71; SD = 12.03). (see also Schinke et al., 2020a,b; Stambulova et al., 2020), letting youth sports’ reality underexplored. Youth sport is characterized by youngsters intrinsically Measures Demographic and Sports Information developing a dual career (i.e., academic education and sport An ad hoc survey was created to assess relevant information combination) that requires an adequate balance of sports, for the objectives of this study. This survey was composed of academic, psychological, psychosocial, financial, and legal items evaluating (a) life-conditions during COVID-19 lockdown challenges (Wylleman, 2019). This is considered a high demanding (i.e., perceived socioeconomic level, academic course, number stage that requires both high personal competencies (Miró of co-habitants at home, and physical activity levels) and et al., 2018; Perez-Rivases et al., 2020) and a supportive sport-related characteristics (i.e., years of sporting experience, environment (Morris et al., 2020). Previous research has warned competitive level, training conditions, and perceived support about the negative consequences that a non-successful dual by the club and/or sports institutions). career might have for athletes’ mental health (Sallen et al., 2018; Sorkkila et al., 2020), highlighting the need to approach this by taking a holistic approach (e.g., Wylleman and Lavallee, Negative Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on 2004; Wylleman, 2019) that captures both indirect (e.g., impact Life-Spheres on life-spheres) and direct (e.g., anxiety/depression and social Impact of lockdown on athletes’ life-domains was assessed using dysfunction) indicators of athletes’ mental health. the Holistic Monitoring Questionnaire (HMQ; De Brandt et al., Considering the changes that COVID-19 lockdown meant 2019). This questionnaire contains 11 items that evaluate the for young athletes’ dual career (i.e., new academic reality, practices perceived impact of certain events, in this case the COVID-19 and competitions canceled, and social distance from peers), lockdown, on athletes’ different life-spheres (e.g., “Please, rate and the lack of resources in certain athletic environments for the impact that the COVID-19 situation is having on your different life domains”). The HMQ is divided into four different Similar to Stambulova et al. (2020), authors differentiate between COVID-19 1 life-spheres: (1) Dual career (i.e., studies, sport, social life, and as a syndrome caused by the SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic as the current the combination of these three areas); (2) Health (i.e., physical global crisis triggered due to the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, and the COVID-19 lockdown as the period of confinement of the population that health, mental health, mood, and well-being); (3) Rest and most countries adopted to stop the COVID-19 spread. recovery (i.e., sleep quality and recovery from training sessions); https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ 2 and (4) Economy (i.e., financial situation). Due to the characteristics Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 2 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872 Pons et al. Spanish Young Athletes in Lockdown of the participants of this study (i.e., economic dependence from outside the three interquartile ratio thresholds were also deleted their parents), the financial situation item was not included. All (Hoaglin and Iglewicz, 1987). Afterwards, we calculated the items were rated on a 5-point Likert-style scale from 1 (very descriptive statistics of the whole dataset, including means, positive impact) to 5 (very negative impact). Cronbach’s alpha standard deviations, bivariate correlations using Pearson’s coefficient showed acceptable-to-good reliability indicators for correlation coefficient, and reliability using Cronbach’s alpha dual career (α = 0.74), health (α = 0.81), and rest and recovery coefficient. Such descriptive analyses provided an overall (α = 0.85) subscales. Confirmatory factor analysis showed understanding of Spanish young athletes during lockdown. acceptable model fit indicators, with χ2(32) = 203.55, p < 0.001, Next, we used the cluster analysis technique to characterize RMSEA = 0.098, 90% CI (0.085, 0.111), CFI = 0.973, and the different athletes depending on the impact that COVID-19 TLI = 0.961. lockdown had on them. This characterization was conducted following the next steps: (1) we selected subscales of HMQ Mental Health Issues and GHQ-12 as clustering variables. Then, (2) we transformed We used the Spanish version of the General Health the clustering variables into z-scores and (3) we combined Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12; Goldberg et al., 1997; Sánchez- both hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analysis in order López and Dresch, 2008). This 12-item self-administered to obtain a more stable solution (see Hair et al., 2010). questionnaire screens different symptoms that are indicative Hierarchical cluster analysis was calculated using Ward’s linkage of a poor mental health. Respondents must select the option and squared Euclidean distance. The number of clusters was that better fits their degree of agreement in a 7-point Likert derived from the visual inspection of the dendrogram and the scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Following Bayesian and Akaike Information Criteria (BIC and AIC; Akaike, past research with similar samples (e.g., Padrón et al., 2012), 1974). The resulting cluster centers were used as starting points items were grouped into (1) anxiety and depression, (2) social for the k-means cluster analysis, which tests the adequacy of dysfunction, and (3) loss of confidence subscales. We reworded a specified cluster solution. Such analyses identified different the stem of the questionnaire to adapt it to the aims of this profiles of young athletes regarding the impact that COVID-19 study (i.e., “during last few weeks under the situation of had on their life. confinement…”). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient reported acceptable Last, to approach the second aim of the study, we compared levels of reliability, with values of 0.79, 0.76, and 0.80, respectively. different life-conditions and sport-related variables between the Confirmatory factor analysis presented acceptable model fit resulting clusters. For categorical data, we used Pearson’s indices, with χ2(51) = 309.06, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.096, Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test (when contingency tables 90% CI (0.086, 0.107), CFI = 0.949, and TLI = 0.933. contained at least a cell with less than five cases) with Monte Carlo iteration method. This test was computed considering the need to correct the value of p when conducting multiple Procedure comparisons (p = 0.017). For numeric data, we first used After obtaining the approval of the University ethics committee MANOVA to test whether compared groups differed in the (reference 4996), we designed an online tool with the explored dependent variables. Subsequently, we conducted aforementioned questionnaires using LimeSurvey software. ANOVA with post-hoc test comparisons using Games-Howell A total of 30 sport clubs and sports institutions with different procedure to evaluate the differences between clusters in life- sports characteristics (i.e., number of athletes, competition level, conditions and sport-related variables. and sport type) were invited to participate in this study using a convenience sampling strategy. Twenty-six of them agreed to participate. We did not detect any common pattern between RESULTS entities that declined to participate in the study. For those entities that agreed to participate, we asked them to share Descriptive Statistics with their athletes the link to the survey and some relevant Descriptive statistics are presented in Table 1. Overall, results information about the research (e.g., invitation letter, survey indicate that athletes reported that COVID-19 lockdown had instructions, and contact information). All participants signed a negative impact on their life-spheres and mental health. an informed consent and were informed about the confidential Regarding the different life-spheres, this impact seems to and voluntary nature of the study and the absence of any be more negative on dual career (M = 3.6; SD = 0.7; kind of reward to participate. As a gratitude for their help, a Rank = 1–5) and health domains (M = 3.3; SD = 0.7; global report with the main findings of the study was sent Rank = 1–5) than in the rest and recovery domain (M = 2.9; to that all entities that participated in the data collection. SD = 1.0; Rank = 1–5). For mental health issues, young athletes reported, on average, higher anxious/depressive Data Analysis (M = 3.5; SD = 1.0; Rank = 1–7) and social dysfunction All analyses were conducted using SPSS 19.0 statistical package. (M = 3.5; SD = 1.5; Rank = 1–7) symptoms in comparison Preliminary data analysis included the examination of the with loss of confidence (M = 2.6; SD = 1.7; Rank = 1–7). missing data patterns and multivariate outliers. Listwise deletion Descriptive results also indicate positive correlations between method was used to deal with missing data. Accordingly, partial life-spheres and mental health, with ranging magnitudes from responses were not considered in this study. Cases with responses 0.13 to 0.59 among them. Notably, social dysfunction showed Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 3 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872 Pons et al. Spanish Young Athletes in Lockdown TABLE 1 | Descriptive statistics of negative impact of COVID-19 on life-spheres and mental health issues. M SD Range α 1 2 3 4 5 6 Negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown on life-spheres 1. Dual career 3.59 0.74 1–5 0.74 - 2. Health 3.27 0.68 1–5 0.81 0.633* - 3. Rest and recovery 2.92 0.99 1–5 0.85 0.204* 0.364* - Mental health issues 4. Anxiety and depression 3.46 1.04 1–7 0.79 0.180* 0.418* 0.273* - 5. Social dysfunction 3.53 1.50 1–7 0.76 0.428* 0.580* 0.263* 0.492* - 6. Loss of confidence 2.61 1.67 1–7 0.80 0.128* 0.375* 0.209* 0.600* 0.509* - Bivariate correlations were computed using Pearson’s coefficient. *p < 0.001. to be the most correlated factor with the negative impact The three clusters presented no differences regarding the number on life-spheres subscales (dual career: r = 0.43, health: r = 0.58, of cohabitants during lockdown, physical activity levels before rest and recovery: r = 0.26). the pandemic, years of sports experience, and competitive level. However, these three groups differed in terms of gender, Cluster Analysis socioeconomic level, academic course, physical activity and Results from the hierarchical cluster analysis suggested the three- training conditions during lockdown, and perceived support cluster solution as the most suitable (see Figure 1 and Table 2). from sport clubs or institutions (p < 0.05). Post-hoc comparisons This structure was subsequently confirmed by the non-hierarchical between groups showed that, compared to low impact and k-means analysis and was considered as theoretically satisfactory. medium impact clusters, athletes in the high impact cluster The MANOVA suggested the existence of significant differences were predominantly (72.0%) women (p1–3 < 0.001, p2–3 = 0.005) between groups in all clustering variables (Pillai’s trace = 0.95; reporting a lower socioeconomic level (p1–3 = 0.001, p2–3 = 0.006), p < 0.001). The resulting profiles were labeled as low impact, a higher academic course (p1–3 < 0.001, p2–3 = 0.057), and medium impact, and high impact clusters. Overall, these three worse training conditions under lockdown (p1–3 = 0.008, profiles present differences in the way that COVID-19 lockdown p2–3 = 0.098). As illustrated in Tables 3A and 3B, these differences impacted on athletes’ life-spheres and mental health. For most are especially evident between low impact and high impact groups. of the participants, the impact was low or medium, but there was also a considerable group of athletes that reported important negative consequences. Concretely, the 54.78% of the sample DISCUSSION (n = 298) belong to the low impact cluster, the 29.96% of the sample (n = 163) to the medium impact cluster, and the 15.26% This study aimed at better understanding the impact of of the sample (n = 83) to the high-impact cluster. confinement on young athletes by (1) describing and The low impact cluster included those athletes who reported characterizing the general impact of COVID-19 lockdown on a small negative impact of COVID-19 on life-spheres (dual Spanish young athletes’ life-spheres and mental health and (2) career: Z = −0.47, health: Z = −0.54, rest and recovery: identifying different profiles of athletes regarding these target Z = −0.18) and few mental health issues (anxiety and depression: variables along with their life-conditions and sport-related Z = −0.47, social dysfunction: Z = −0.55, loss of confidence: characteristics. Globally, results showed a negative impact of Z = −0.44). Second, the medium impact cluster contained COVID-19 lockdown on the sample, but with three different those athletes who reported a medium negative impact of profiles regarding the degree of such impact. Especially, the COVID-19 lockdown on life-spheres (dual career: Z = 0.61, high impact cluster showed a substantial negative effect of health: Z = 0.48; rest and recovery: Z = 0) and moderate confinement on young athletes’ life-spheres and mental health. mental health issues (anxiety and depression: Z = 0.20, social In comparison with the other two groups, this cluster is mostly dysfunction: Z = 0.47, loss of confidence: Z = −0.03). Finally, composed of female athletes, with a lower socioeconomic level, the high impact cluster included those athletes who reported higher academic course, and worse training conditions under a considerable negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown on lockdown. The present results expand the previous knowledge life-spheres (dual career: Z = 0.48, health: Z = 1.01; rest and about the COVID-19 pandemic by providing new insights on recovery: Z = 0.67) and high mental health issues (anxiety the mental health status of young athletes, a frequently and depression Z = 1.31, social dysfunction Z = 1.04, loss of underexplored population in mental health research. confidence Z = 1.62). Descriptive results show a negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown on athletes’ life-spheres and mental health, being the dual career factor the most negatively affected. This finding is in line with Differences Between Clusters the predictions about the negative consequences of confinement We compared the groups derived from the cluster analysis (Brooks et al., 2020; Papaioannou et al., 2020), and the importance considering life-conditions and sports-related information to of an adequate dual career balance for mental health (Schinke further characterize each observed profile (see Tables 3A and 3B). et al., 2017). Similar results were found in early evidence exploring Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 4 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872 Pons et al. Spanish Young Athletes in Lockdown FIGURE 1 | Accepted cluster solution (standardized scores). TABLE 2 | Standardized and non-standardized scores in the clustering variables of the accepted cluster solution. Cluster 1 (n = 298): low impact Cluster 2 (n = 163): medium Cluster 3 (n = 83): high impact F p impact Z-scores Raw scores Z-scores Raw scores Z-scores Raw scores Negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown on life-spheres Dual career −0.47 (0.06)c2c3 3.25 (0.04) 0.61 (0.04)c1 4.04 (0.03) 0.48 (0.08)c1 3.95 (0.06) 97.93 <0.001 Health −0.54 (0.05)c2c3 2.90 (0.04) 0.48 (0.05)c1c3 3.60 (0.03) 1.01 (0.07)c1c2 3.96 (0.05) 171.00 <0.001 Rest and −0.18 (0.05)c3 2.74 (0.05) 0.00 (0.09)c3 2.92 (0.08) 0.67 (0.11)c1c2 3.58 (0.11) 25.66 <0.001 recovery Mental health issues Anxiety and −0.47 (0.05)c2c3 2.82 (0.08) 0.20 (0.05)c1c3 3.83 (0.08) 1.31 (0.06)c1c2 5.50 (0.09) 179.55 <0.001 depression Social −0.55 (0.04)c2c3 2.89 (0.04) 0.47 (0.06)c1c3 3.95 (0.07) 1.04 (0.10)c1c2 4.55 (0.10) 176.08 <0.001 dysfunction Loss of −0.44 (0.04)c2c3 1.88 (0.07) −0.03 (0.06)c1c3 2.56 (0.09) 1.62 (0.07)c1c2 5.31 (0.12) 276.79 <0.001 confidence C1, Cluster 1; C2, Cluster 2; C3, Cluster 3. Boldface indicates inter-group significant differences. Superscripts indicate intra-group significant differences using Games-Howell post-hoc test. the impact of COVID-19 lockdown in similar samples (di Fronso Results from cluster analysis indicate differences regarding et al., 2020; Pillay et al., 2020). However, Clemente-Suárez et al. how young athletes experienced the COVID-19 lockdown, (2020) reported no effects on Spanish Olympic athletes’ mental suggesting different impact realities. In line with the results health during the first month of confinement. The differences found in non-sportive samples (e.g., Chen et al., 2020), most between studies are probably due to the diverse characteristics of youngsters showed a low-to-medium impact of confinement. the samples (i.e., as pointed by the authors, Olympic athletes are However, a substantial percentage (i.e., 15.26%) of young more used to cope with challenging situations) and to the number athletes reported a high impact of COVID-19 lockdown on of days of confinement when participating in each study. their life-spheres and mental health. According to previous Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 5 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872 Pons et al. Spanish Young Athletes in Lockdown TABLE 3A | Differences in demographic and sports information between clusters (ordinal variables). Cluster 1: low impact Cluster 2: medium Cluster 3: high impact χ2 (gl)f p (n = 298) impact (n = 163) (n = 83) Gender C3 C3 C1 C2 26.70 (2) <0.001 Male 59.6% 47.9% 28.0% Female 40.4% 52.1% 72.0% Socioeconomic level C3 C3 C1 C2 21.02 (8) 0.003 Very bad 0% 0% 2.4% Bad 4.0% 4.3% 14.5% Medium 60.1% 57.7% 55.4% Good 31.9% 35.0% 27.7% Very Good 4.0% 3.1% 0% Academic coursea C2 C3 C1 C1 48.02 (10) <0.001 1° ESO (year 8) 7.1% 5.0% 0% 2° ESO (year 9) 23.8% 13.6% 6.8% 3° ESO (year 10) 23.5% 20.0% 13.5% 4° ESO (year 11) 22.8% 25.7% 29.7% 1° BACHILLER (year 12) 10.0% 25.7% 31.1% 2° BACHILLER (year 13) 12.8% 10.0% 18.9% Competitive level 4.37 (6) 0.634 Regional 35.2% 39.3% 45.8% Autonomic 35.2% 29.4% 28.9% National 22.5% 25.2% 20.5% International 7.1% 6.1% 4.8% Lockdown training conditions C3 C1 12.63 (6) 0.045 Not training 10.6% 12.5% 24.7% Training with important changes 55.0% 57.5% 54.3% Training with minor changes 27.6% 25.0% 18.5% Training as always 6.8% 5.0% 2.5% Satisfaction with club/institution C2 C1 22.87 (8) 0.003 Very unsatisfied 4.7% 3.1% 8.4% Unsatisfied 3.7% 9.3% 4.8% Indifferent 19.5% 22.2% 24.1% Satisfied 32.7% 40.1% 42.2% Very satisfied 39.4% 25.3% 20.5% C1, Cluster 1; C2, Cluster 2; C3, Cluster 3. Boldface indicates inter-group significant differences (p < 0.05). Superscripts indicate intra-group significant differences (corrected p < 0.017) using Chi-square test. a Academic course was computed removing those participants pursuing tertiary education programs (participants excluded = 49). f All inter-group comparisons that included a group with n < 5, were computed using Fishers’ exact test. TABLE 3B | Differences in demographic and sports information between clusters (numerical variables). Cluster 1 (n = 298): low Cluster 2 (n = 163): medium Cluster 3 (n = 83): high F p impact impact impact M SD M SD M SD Number of co-habitants 4.02 0.89 3.94 0.81 4.01 1.09 0.38 0.682 PA time before lockdown 9.45 6.02 9.31 5.22 8.08 3.91 2.05 0.130 PA time during lockdown 5.81 4.29 4.94 3.58 4.83 3.94 3.42 0.034 Sports experience 7.16 0.18 7.33 0.24 6.49 0.35 2.09 0.125 PA, physical activity. Boldface indicates inter-group significant differences. research, this group could be at risk for suffering from had a greater percentage of female athletes exhibiting a lower psychological problems. Considering that, adolescent athletes socioeconomic level, who reported pursuing higher academic are a population with a low tendency for help-seeking behaviors courses and having poorer training conditions during confinement. (Tomalski et al., 2019), present results emphasize the need Although these differences cannot be interpreted in a causal to pay attention to young athletes’ mental health to prevent way, present findings suggest some research lines to be explored potential psychosocial problems. in the future. Regarding gender, research addressing differences A second aim of this study was to explore the differences in how the pandemic hit male and female athletes has revealed between clusters regarding general demographic and life-conditions a more negative impact of COVID-19 lockdown in female and sports-related characteristics. Group comparisons showed athletes (di Fronso et al., 2020). In this line, Bowes et al. (2020) that, compared to the other two groups, the high impact cluster identified some factors that might help to explain these differences Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 6 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872 Pons et al. Spanish Young Athletes in Lockdown in elite sport, such as a later resumption of the sport activity, Special attention should be given to women’s sport, as female greater difficulties for training at home, and a lesser financial athletes seem to be the least-favored group. By developing support. As suggested in this study, future research in the field these supportive resources (e.g., dual career support services of youth sport should explore in more detail the sociological and communication networks with athletes and families) factors causing these gender differences beyond the impact of that serve as backup system for young athletes, sports clubs COVID-19 lockdown. and institutions will become protective agents against mental Group differences regarding academic course showed that health issues in this population. participants in the high impact cluster were pursuing higher academic courses than the low impact one. Research in this Limitations and Future Directions line suggested that individuals with higher academic level Some considerations are needed when evaluating the reported usually report lower levels of well-being (Wanberg et al., 2020). results. First, it is important to bear in mind that this is a Within the sports field, previous evidence relates mental health descriptive study, therefore, while group comparisons may issues with higher difficulties to undertake a dual career pathway indicate a possible role of certain life-conditions and sport- (Sallen et al., 2018; Sorkkila et al., 2020). As highlighted by related variables in the health of young athletes, these relations other authors (e.g., Samuel et al., 2020; Stambulova et al., cannot be interpreted in a causal way. Future studies should 2020), COVID-19 lockdown can be understood as a change- continue developing this approach using designs that allow event with unexpected demands for the athletes that combine making predictive or causal attributions. Second, this work is academic and sports career. Therefore, it would be interesting a first attempt to study the psychometric properties of the that future research addresses the impact of this adaptation Holistic Monitoring Questionnaire (HMQ; De Brandt et al., process on young athletes’ mental health. 2019). However, more evidence is needed in different athletic Regarding the socioeconomic level, group comparisons samples to confirm the satisfactory properties regarding internal showed that the high impact cluster had a worse socioeconomic consistency and factorial structure obtained in this study. level than medium and low impact ones. While lower As a complement of the descriptive nature of these findings, socioeconomic level has been identified as a risk factor further studies should deepen some other research questions associated with mental health issues (e.g., Jones et al., 2016), regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in this recent research specifically addressing the impact of the population. Specifically, focusing on reporting complementary pandemic suggests that people with higher incomes mental health indicators (e.g., performance, well-being, and experienced a greater relative decrease in well-being during basic psychological needs satisfaction; Schinke et al., 2017) in lockdown (Wanberg et al., 2020). In line with this relative this sample, evaluating the long-term impact of lockdown on perception of loss, our results also showed group differences mental health, and/or implementing intervention programs regarding training conditions during confinement, with the aimed at improving the mental health status of highly affected high impact cluster showing worse training conditions than athletes could be of great interest. the low impact cluster. Faulkner et al. (2020) had suggested that regular and structured physical activity would act as a coping strategy for mitigating COVID-19 lockdown negative Conclusion consequences. However, further research should address The COVID-19 lockdown had a general negative impact on whether the socioeconomic conditions of the athletic Spanish young athletes. However, significant differences were population might be interrelated with training conditions. found when comparing different individual realities. While In this line, we hypothesize that athletes with more resources most of the sample reported a low-to-moderate impact, an would be more likely to keep similar training conditions important group of participants reported high negative issues during COVID-19 lockdown and perhaps is this perception in relation to this COVID-19 lockdown. Group comparisons of preservation of conditions despite the general conditions showed that the high impact cluster was composed mostly of what would have a positive effect. female athletes with lower socioeconomic level, pursuing a more demanding academic course and reporting worse training conditions than their counterparts. This study reinforces the Practical Implications need to focus on young (specially women’s) athletes’ mental Current findings entail some appealing applied considerations. health and highlights the role of contextual variables with By presenting the way that COVID-19 impacted young potential issues. Sport clubs and institutions, by supporting athletes, this research contributes to the visibility of potential young athletes during difficult moments, could and should mental health issues in the youth sport population. In this help mitigating the negative impact of such challenging sense, and in view of the observed contextual differences circumstances on their athletes’ mental health. between profiles partly related with the backing of sport institutions, we recommend clubs and sport organizations to promote youngsters’ physical activity and to facilitate the DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT access to supportive network during challenging circumstances even when the competitions are canceled (e.g., lockdown, The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will high-demanding academic courses, and career transitions). be made available by the authors, without undue reservation. Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 7 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872 Pons et al. Spanish Young Athletes in Lockdown ETHICS STATEMENT of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Comissió d’Ètica en l’Experimentació Animal i Humana, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Written informed FUNDING consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin. This work is part of the “Healthy Dual Careers” (HeDuCa) project, which has been supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (reference RTI2018-095468-B-100), Spain. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS JP, YR, SA, and MT participated in the design of the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS research project. JP, AJ, and MB participated in the survey design and data collection. JP, YR, and SA participated in We want to thank the collaboration of the whole HeDuCa the data analysis. All authors participated in the preparation consortium in the process of data collection. REFERENCES research: a focus on low-income children and families. Couple Fam. Psychol. Res. Pract. 5, 240–257. doi: 10.1037/cfp0000069 Akaike, H. (1974). 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J. as a potential conflict of interest. Sport Exerc. Psychol. doi: 10.1080/1612197X.2020.1810865 [Epub ahead of print] Copyright © 2020 Pons, Ramis, Alcaraz, Jordana, Borrueco and Torregrossa. This is Tomalski, J., Clevinger, K., Albert, E., Jackson, R., Wartalowicz, K., and Petrie, T. A. an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (2019). Mental health screening for athletes: program development, License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, implementation, and evaluation. J. Sport Psychol. Action 10:121. doi: 10.1080/ provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that 21520704.2019.1604589 the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic Wanberg, C. R., Csillag, B., Douglass, R. P., Zhou, L., and Pollard, M. S. practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply (2020). Socioeconomic status and well-being during COVID-19: a resource- with these terms. Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 9 December 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 611872