Abstract
Background: Psychological stress – when an individual perceives that the environment exceeds their ability to meet the demands placed on them - is common in college students and exercise, and specifically instructional physical activity courses, is frequently cited as a one method of stress reduction. Objective: Determine any relationship between exercise empowerment and perceived life stress for those participating in instructional physical activity courses (IPAC). Methods: All undergraduate students (n = 3388) enrolled in IPAC in 15-week IPAC at a large university were surveyed on perceived life stress (PSS), empowerment in exercise (EES), and specific demographic variables. Results: 944 of 3388 enrolled students (Nov. 2015, April 2016) completed the survey. The data revealed GPA (p < 0.002), sex (p < 0.000), and EES (p < 0.001) showed differences for PSS. It was determined that EES, sex, and GPA predicted PSS differently for students according to their year in college. Conclusions: For freshman and seniors, sex and lower GPA were a stronger predictor of PSS with no mitigating effect of exercise empowerment. For sophomores and juniors the level of life stress was lower at higher levels of exercise empowerment. These findings support a complex relationship between exercise empowerment and life stress. While exercise is cited as a method for stress reduction the relationship between exercise empowerment and life stress for college-aged students is not as straightforward as it may seem.
Highlights
Life stress comes in many forms: family, friends, work, money, and unexpected events
Determine any relationship between exercise empowerment and perceived life stress for those participating in instructional physical activity courses (IPAC)
Exercise empowerment through participation in instructional physical activity courses does not provide a simple way to reduce life stress for college students
Summary
Life stress comes in many forms: family, friends, work, money, and unexpected events. Psychological stress occurs when an individual perceives that the environment – their daily life – exceeds their ability to meet the demands placed on them or that the response to events indicate an overload (Cohen, Janicki-Deverts, & Miller, 2007). Received: August 05, 2017 their ability to meet the demands placed on them - is common in college students and exercise, Accepted: October 05, 2017 and instructional physical activity courses, is frequently cited as a one method of Published: October 31, 2017 Volume: 5 Issue: 4 stress reduction. Methods: All undergraduate students (n = 3388) enrolled in IPAC in 15-week IPAC at a large university were surveyed on perceived life stress (PSS), empowerment in exercise (EES), and Conflicts of interest: None specific demographic variables. Results: 944 of 3388 enrolled students (Nov. 2015, April 2016)
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