College Students Exercise Effects

on Stress
Alexis Scalise, Madalyn Moore, and Kallie Shaffer
Introduction
● Physiological stress and physical activity are reciprocal
● 168 studies done
○ Physical activity level versus their stress level
● Hypothesis: those who deal with more stress are less likely to participate in physical
activity
● Physical activity reduced with objective or subjective stressors
○ Negative effect on physical activity
● Adults above the age of 50
○ 85.7% of both men and women showed the same trend
○ 18.2% were found to be positively impacted by stress
● Stress is found to be a reducing factor for physical activity.
Introduction
● Study conducted on millennial college students
○ Examine the impact of physical activity and exercise types in comparison to high stress tolerance
● Goal: quantify the relationship and impact of physical activity with high stress tolerance in college
students
○ Quantitative, analytical and cross-sectional studies
● 936 randomly selected college students surveyed
○ Types of physical activity and stress tolerance analyzed by Chi-square with 95% confidence
● Significant amount of physical activity in association with high stress tolerance
○ Exercise, p = 0.001, engagement in leisure activity, p = 0.004, engagement in extracurricular activity, p = 0.012,
and engagement in extracurricular sport, p = 0.039.
○ Vigorous exercise, stretching, and resistance training with p < 0.05.
● This study showed a positive impact of physical activity and exercise on stress tolerance among
college students.
Research Question
Does variation in the number of times exercise is performed weekly have an effect
on stress levels in college students?
Statistical Hypothesis
Null: Stress levels do not vary between college students who exercise more in a
week than those who exercise less per week.

Alternative/Research: Stress levels do vary between college students who

exercise more in a week than those who exercise less per week.
Collection Strategy
● Collected by the group
○ Used Google forms to create a survey
○ Sent out to college students
○ Received 37 responses
● We did not have a randomized sample
○ Easier to send the form to our classmates
● Continuous variable: average weekly stress level observed in college students
● Testing performed: ANOVA
○ Chose due to different scales of exercise (low, moderate, high) as a comparison to stress
○ Compares means across more than one group
Survey Questions
● How many days a week do you exercise?
○ We sorted this data into:
■ Low (0-2)
■ Moderate (3-4)
■ High (5+)
● What is your average weekly stress level?
○ 0-10 scale
Analyses (One-Way ANOVA Test)
● Level of significance = 0.001 ( p < 0.05)
● Degrees of freedom:
○ Between groups (numerator) = 2
○ Within group (denominator) = 34
● Test Statistic:
○ F = 9.329
● Eta Squared = 0.354
○ 35.4% of the variability in stress levels in college students is based on the amount of exercise
performed on a weekly basis.
One-Way ANOVA Test Data Results
Our Findings/ Conclusion
● We reject the null hypothesis, F(2, 34)=9.329, p=0.001. The stress levels of
college students significantly differ from one another in regard to the amount
of exercise performed weekly.
● Post Hoc Test:
○ Low Exercise (0-2 days/week) significantly differs from High Exercise (5+ days/week)
■ P = 0.000
● We conclude that performing exercise approximately 5 days a week can help
lower stress levels in college students. In comparison, those who do not
perform exercise, or are performing low amounts of exercise per week are
showing significantly higher stress levels.
Post Hoc Test Results
Critique and Future Outlook
● Data shows that college students who exercise more seem to have lower
stress.
○ Not taking major, living on/off campus, year of college, type of exercise, etc. into account
● Next time, get results from a broader sample of college students
● Future research should take into account more variables
○ Specificity and more meticulous variables would allow for greater accuracy in analysis
Works Cited
1. Bland, Helen W, et al. Quantifying the Impact of Physical Activity on Stress Tolerance in College Students. 1 Dec. 2014,
www.ingentaconnect.com/content/prin/csj/2014/00000048/00000004/art00002.
2. Stults-Kolehmainen, Matthew A, and Rajita Sinha. “The effects of stress on physical activity and exercise.” Sports
medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) vol. 44,1 (2014): 81-121. doi:10.1007/s40279-013-0090-5.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3894304/
Other Appendix
● Collected data via Google Forms