University of Twente Student Theses
Could physical activity be a valuable resource to lower stress in everyday life?
Bogdan, C. (2023) Could physical activity be a valuable resource to lower stress in everyday life?
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| Abstract: | Stress among students and young adults, is a well-documented issue. As a coping strategy, physical activity has been recognized to help with recovery from stress on the subsequent event. The primary aim of this study is to establish whether there exists an association between heart rate (HR)-based stress and self-reported physical activity, with a specific focus on exploring any potential recovery effect. To test these hypotheses a psychophysiological approach was chosen in the form of measurements based on self-reported physical activity with the measurement Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and heart rates (HR). The study involved 53 participants within the age range of 19 to 35 years. Over an 8-day period, participants completed an ESM study with 10 identical questionnaires per day. A time-lagged analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between stressful events and self-reported physical activity, with a focus on testing any recovery effect. This resulted in a significant association between self-reported physical activity and subsequent subjective stressful events (p <0.001). Further, results indicated a significant recovery from HR-based stress considering self-reported physical activity after a stressful event (p< 0.001). The results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that physical activity contributes to stress recovery after encountering stress. The findings of this study are in line with previous studies indicating an association between physical activity and stressful events. Future research should place more emphasis on psychophysiological measuring methods and further investigate the impact of physical activity on recover stress after a stressful event. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/96984 |
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