To what extent does gender moderate the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in post-COVID sufferers?

Background: Higher levels of depression and lower levels of physical activity are common in post-COVID sufferers. This paper investigates the association between physical activity and depressive symptoms and the moderation of gender in a sample of post-COVID-19 sufferers. Method: The study was based on a correlational survey design. The recruitment was done by convenience sampling. Physical activity was measured with the IPAQ-SF and depressive symptoms with the PHQ-9. The data of the 59 participants (Mage = 35.5, SDage = 1.34, women: 74.6%) was analysed with SPSS. A Kendall Rank Analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms. The interaction effect of gender was examined with a moderation analysis. Results: The correlation between physical activity and depressive symptoms was not significant. The moderation effect of gender on the correlation between physical activity and depressive symptoms was also not significant. Conclusion: This paper is one of the first studies investigating the direct relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms in a sample of post-COVID sufferers. Against expectations, neither an association between physical activity and depressive symptoms nor an interaction effect of gender was found. However, the sample distribution supports previous findings that post-COVID sufferers show higher levels of depressive symptoms.