IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON THE LEISURE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Since February 2020, as a result of COVID-19, a significant part of the population has developed their daily activities in the residential sphere, among them, leisure experiences. Given the new reality that was imposed, the present investigation aimed to analyze the impacts of COVID-19 on social time and leisure experiences of university students from a federal public institution. It is a qualitative, exploratory, field research, developed with university students from a public federal higher education institution, participating in an educational sports program. The results indicate that in the period of social distance, the time availability of university students behaved in a complex way, with percentages close to between not changed and increased, although considerable percentages decreased. The experiences with leisure during the pandemic decreased for most, with chatting on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp being the experience that obtained the highest percentages, with high intensity. It was concluded that COVID-19 had a negative impact in relation to the use of available time, as well as restricting the leisure experiences of university students participating in the investigation.