Quantifying the Impact of Physical Activity on Stress Tolerance in College Students

Problem: Stress experience by millennial college students can be crippling. While stress is a universal and unavoidable phenomenon for college students, the variance in ability to handle stress can be attributed to stress tolerance (Welle & Graf, 2011). Research is needed to identify effective tools that increase college students' ability to tolerate and positively cope with stress. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of physical activity associated behaviors and exercise types significantly associated with high stress tolerance (HST) among college students. Methods: Research design employed was an quantitative, analytical, cross-sectional study of randomly selected college students (N=936) that completed a stress tolerance questionnaire (STQ) coupled with a physical activity log. Statistical differences by type of physical activity and stress tolerance were determined by Chi-Square and Odds Ratio (95%C1). Results: Significant physical activity behaviors associated with HST included: exercised (p=0.001), engaged in leisure activity (p=0.004), engaged in extra-curricular activity (p=0.012), and engaged in extra-curricular sport (p=0.039). Three out of four types exercise were significantly associated with HST: vigorous exercise, stretching, and resistance training (p Conclusions: This study demonstrated the positive protective impact of physical activity behaviors and exercise on stress tolerance among college students. Key Words: stress tolerance, physical activity, coping mechanisms Introduction College students are assaulted by numerous and constant personal, educational, and social stressors. Specific stressors or challenges include, but are not limited to, interpersonal relationships, living arrangements, personal finances, more frequent experiences of failure, and important career decisions (Adler, Conklin, & Strunk, 2013; Keith, 2010). As college students transition into adulthood and experience more challenges and barriers, perceived stress may increase as well (VanKim & Nelson, 2013; Thurber & Walton, 2012). Stress among college students is unavoidable. The various challenges and stressors associated with college may also have a negative impact on the corresponding psychological health of college students (Gubata, Urban, Cowan, & Niebuhr, 2013; Taylor, McCarthy, Herbert, & Smith, 2009). Within randomly selected non-clinical samples of college students, prevalence rates of psychological and psychiatric symptoms have been reported to be between 30% and 50% (Blanco et al., 2008). Within the college student population, mental health disorders appear to be increasing in number as well as severity (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). According to the 2010 National Survey of Counseling Centers (Gallagher, 2010), 91% of counseling directors believe that there has been an increase in the number of students with severe psychological concerns. Additionally, previous research studies also indicate that the rate of depression has been on the rise over the last several years (American College Health Association, 2010). While stress is a universal and unavoidable phenomenon for college students, the variance in ability to handle stress can be attributed to stress tolerance (Welle & Graf, 2011). Stress tolerance is a phenomenon that looks at not how to avoid the numerous stressor in one's life, rather how one effectively copes with the stress present in one's life. People with high stress tolerance can handle large amount of stress without suffering from its crippling effect. Isolating factors that increase stress tolerance while simultaneously protecting college students against adverse mental health would seem to be crucial. Physical activity has been well-documented as an effective means of reducing stress and anxiety (Baghurst & Kelley, 2013). Research initially compiled by the Surgeon General and reaffirmed by additional research studies (Smith, 2013; Brunes, Augestad, & Gudmundsdottir, 2013, Abbas et al. …