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Stress, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and resilience—The effects of naturalistic periods of elevated stress: A measurement‐burst study
Author(s) -
Lines Robin L. J.,
Ducker Kagan J.,
Ntoumanis Nikos,
ThøgersenNtoumani Cecilie,
Fletcher David,
Gucciardi Daniel F.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/psyp.13846
Subject(s) - psychology , psychological resilience , stress (linguistics) , physical activity , association (psychology) , stressor , sedentary behavior , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology , physical therapy , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , psychotherapist
Stress is an important consideration for understanding why individuals take part in limited or no physical activity. The negative effects of stress on physical activity do not hold for everyone, so examinations of possible resilience resources that might protect individuals from the harmful effects of stress are required. Accordingly, we conducted a measurement‐burst study with 53 university students over a 6‐month period to examine the dynamics among stress, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and resilience resources. Participants completed three bursts of 6 days, with each burst separated by an 8‐week gap. Expectations regarding the moderating effects of resilience resources were unsupported. Daily reports of academic and general stress were positively associated with sedentary behavior and negatively associated with light and moderate intensity physical activity. Hair cortisol concentration significantly moderated the association between academic stress and sedentary behavior, such that in bursts where cortisol was lower the daily positive association between stress and sedentary behavior was weaker. The finding that academic and general stress are dynamically associated with lower levels of light and moderate intensity physical activity and higher levels of sedentary behavior is an important extension to previous research, which has relied mainly on cross‐sectional designs and self‐report methods. Future research might examine resilience resources that are specific to the outcomes of interest rather than rely on generic resources.