PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF HUNGARIAN ATHLETES AND SPORTS PROFESSIONALS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN HUNGARIAN SPORTS SECTOR – SUMMARY

The Part II of this issue of Health Problems of Civilization (4/2022) includes exclusively the works by the team of the researchers from the University of Pécs, Hungary, led by Prof. Pongrác Ács, PhD. The articles deal with the topics related to physical activity and mental well-being of the professional group that includes athletes and sports professionals in Hungary. In this context, the manuscripts also present the challenges and problems that the Hungarian sports sector is currently facing; and at the same time, they describe opportunities for the development of sports in the country.
The first article by Derkács et al. aims to analyze the changing exercising frequency, the well-being, the mental health, as well as the social relationships before and during the curfew of the COVID-19 first wave. The data collection was May-June in 2020 via an online questionnaire survey amongst the sportsmen and professionals in the sports sector. The sample was classified into four sectors: elite sportsmen, recreational sportsmen, sports professionals and multiple roles. There was a significant difference at the exercising frequency before and during the curfew between the sectors. The well-being, the mental health and the social relations did not show any significant differences. Regarding physical activity, there were decreases in weekly average in every category. The authors concluded that the curfew of the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the exercising frequency and physical activity amongst the sportsmen and professionals in the sports sector.
The issue of mental health is also raised in the second article by Bite-Trpkovici et al. Playing sports entails numerous forms of stress that athletes need to be able to manage in order to deliver the desired performance. It is also important that they release any accumulated tension in a way that would enable them to be more assertive. The research sample consisted of 147 athletes. Based on the results, the authors concluded that the trait aggression had a positive correlation with state anxiety and trait anxiety as well. A positive correlation has been found between verbal aggression and trait anxiety and state anxiety. A positive correlation can also be found between physical aggression and trait anxiety and state anxiety. Trait anxiety has been found higher in female athletes than in males. Taking the results into consideration, the authors state that there is a strong correlation between...


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