Running Head: BENEFITS OF EXERCISE

Impact of Exercise Participation on Stress Levels of Different Ages and Genders

Michael Kelley

Loras College

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Abstract:
We live in a fast-paced society where we are constantly busy. Whether we are attending
college and working on papers or whether we are dealing with the stresses that come with
raising families and paying our bills, there never seems to be enough hours in the day
during which time we could be focusing our attention, even if for a small amount of time,
on activities that have the potential of helping us decrease stress levels resulting from
these various obligations. This is where the concept of exercise comes into play. Despite
the physiological, mental, and emotional tolls that stressful events put on us including the
increasing of levels of post -traumatic stress disorder and depression as well as increases
in our negative mood states and blood pressure levels, we can control these various
negative effects on our minds and bodies by regular participation in an organized exercise
program. The research study that is proposed at the end of this literature review is an
experimental study that will be carried out with the effort of finding correlations that may
exist between regular participation in a physical exercise activity, such as riding on a
stationary bike for forty five minutes on three days of the week and stress levels, which
will be based on cortisol levels of the research participants. Following a fifteen minute
period of stretching, participants will ride on a stationary bike at a speed that can be
comfortably maintained for forty five minutes. Following the experiment, post-test levels
of cortisol levels in saliva will be measured by SPSS and those levels of cortisol levels
will be compared to the levels of cortisol in participants before experimentation, which
will also be measured by SPSS, to see if any significant changes exist between the two
levels. Those who participate in an organized exercise program three days per week will
experience lower stress levels than those not participating in the exercise program.

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Benefits of regular physical activity participation

Introduction:
Understanding What Stress Is and Negative Consequences of Stress on Humans:
Ahlborg (2008) defines the term known as Stress as being any external factor from the
environment that results in the disturbance of an organisms internal homeostasis (Ahlborg, G.,
Jr., Borjesson, M., Gerber, M., Jonsdottir, I.H., &Lindwall, M.,). According to Mc Cance,
Forshee, & Shelby (2006) and Ursin & Ericksen (2004), psychological stress is a phenomenon
that occurs when the demands of a situation exceeds the abilities of an individual to cope with
and resolve the problems that come with the situation. Studies by Cohen and colleagues (2007)
in addition to studies carried out by Chrousos and Pervandou (2011) have found a positive
correlation between increased levels of stress and increased risk of cardiovascular disease
(Boone, L., Braet, C., De Henauw, S., Huybrechts, I., Michels, N, Sioen, I., and Vanalest, B.
2015).
Effects of Regular Physical Activity Participation on the Mental States of Humans and on Stress
Levels in Young Children:
Regular physical activity participation can help to improve the mental states of human
beings by aiding in the decrease of an individuals levels of stress, post- traumatic stress disorder,
and depression. Brown and Lawton (1986) discovered through a research project decreases in
the impact that negative life events have on adolescent students who regularly exercise.
Approximately three hundred sixty four females between the grades seven and eleven attending a
private secondary school of higher education in the Los Angeles area were used as test subjects
for the experiment. To measure levels of stress in test participants, the Brown and Lawton

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(1986) study utilized a Life Events Survey which included within it a scale that listed
approximately twenty different stress-provoking circumstances that children can potentially
encounter during their lives. These twenty different stress-provoking circumstances were
divided into the categories of major as well as minor events. According to the scale, major
events included events such as a separation of a childs parents that could have a significant
psychological impact on a childs life. According to the scale, minor events included every
day occurrences, such as feelings of exclusion, that have a less significant but noticeable
psychological impact on a childs life. To measure exercise and exercise habits of participants,
the Brown and Lawton (1986) study included a one page questionnaire which asked the research
participants how much time per week they spend engaged in aerobic as well as anaerobic forms
of exercise. Results from Brown and Lawton (1986) revealed that as the amount of time a
research participant engaged in physical activity increased, their levels of stress decreased
(Brown and Siegel 1988). In a study carried out by Boone and colleagues it was hypothesized
that children who participate in low levels of physical activity will exhibit higher levels of stress
than children who are more physically active (Boone, L., Braet, C., De Henauw, S., Huybrechts,
I., Michels, N., and Sioen, I. (2015). The study carried out by Boone and colleagues on the
effects of exercise on stress levels in children included 1308 Belgian children who were between
the ages of five and twelve years old. The main method that was used in the study was an
instrument known as the Coddington Life Events Scale For Children which assesses the
prevalence, frequency, and timing of stressful negative life events that are experienced by
participants filling out the survey, which includes familial events such as divorce as well as
school events such as failing a test that occur in the year prior to taking the survey. When
assessing the lifestyle factors and habits of participants were instructed to wear and Actigraph

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accelerometer on their right hips during a span of five consecutive days in both 2010 as well as
in 2012. In order for the researchers to collect data, a Wilcoxin signed-ranks test was used to
analyze the evolution of stress and lifestyle factors of the participants over three separate
measurement times with the p-value set at (p<0.05). Following Structural Equation Modeling
(SEM) in order to determine longitudinal associations between stress and lifestyle, researchers
found that as the children participants stress levels increased, the children increased their
participation in physical activities (Boone, et al. 2015). This is a possible indication that when
stressed out, individuals turn to physical activity and exercise in an effort to lower their stress.
Effects of Regular Physical Activity Participation on the Mental Health of Humans and
Stress Levels of Adults:
Stress can have detrimental effect on the mental health of humans. Rutter, Weatherill,
Krill, Orazem, and Taft (2013) carried out a study that sought to uncover the relationship
between symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and functional health. In this experiment
carried out by Rutter and associates (2013) it was hypothesized that lower participation in
physical activity would be correlated with elevated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms.
Approximately two hundred undergraduate introductory psychology students that were divided
between seventy five males and one hundred twenty five females took part in this experiment
carried out by Krill and associates. The levels of participant stress in the experiment conducted
by Krill and associates (2013) were measured through the usage of the PTSD Checklist-Civilian
developed by Weathers and Colleagues (1993), which includes a self-report assessment of
seventeen different Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms as listed in the fourth edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The first symptom of stress that the
checklist used in the Rutter and colleagues (2013) experiment was that of re-experiencing, which

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involved a test participant having reoccurring memories, thoughts, or images of any stressful life
event that led to disturbances in their every-day functioning. Two additional symptoms of Post
-Traumatic Stress Disorder that were included in the experiment were avoidance, characterized
by a test participant completely avoiding the action of either thinking or talking about a stressful
situation as well as emotional numbing, which was characterized through a display by the test
participant of decreased loving feelings and emotions towards their loved ones since the
occurrence of a stressful event. To measure exercise and exercise habits of research participants,
Rutter and associates made use of the Health Risk Appraisal that was developed by Mendlowicz
and Stein (2000). The Health Risk Appraisal is a fifty item measure that assesses a variety of
health-related behaviors of individuals including the behavior of regular exercise. During the
Health Risk Appraisal, participants were asked about how much time per week they spent in
physical activity, exercise, or work that is done for at least thirty minutes that increases an
individuals heart rate, breathing rate, and perspiration rate. Following all tests and experiments,
Rutter and colleagues found that as the duration of physical activity decreases, the rate of
experiencing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder increase, indicating that exercise and
physical activity participation may help college students recover from traumatic as well as
stressful experiences they encounter in their lives (Krill, et al. 2013).
A research experiment carried out by Ahlborg and associates was carried out that sought
to examine if individual changes in physical activity were correlated with individual changes in
mental health of adults over four measurement points over a six year time period (Ahlborg, G.,
Jr., Borjesson, M., Gerber, M., Jonsdottir, I.H., &Lindwall, M., 2014). The researchers in this
experiment hypothesized that an increase in physical activity would be positively correlated with
changes in mental health. The participants used in this study included six thousand randomly

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selected healthcare workers and workers at social insurance office whose average age was
between forty six and forty seven years of age (M=46.9). Of the six thousand people who
received the survey, 3717 individuals made up of 3197 women and 520 males responded to the
initial questionnaire. The first method used to measure the levels of physical activity
participation in research participants was the Saltin Grimby Physical Activity Scale which
measures levels of physical activity in participants on a four level scale with participants at
level one being sedentary to level four which indicates that participants are physically active
for at least five hours per week (Ahlborg, et al. 2014).
Constant studying can leave college students everywhere feeling stressed out as well as
exhausted. Coats, Hansen, and Stevens (2001) carried out a study that attempted to examine how
single bouts of exercise at a moderate level of intensity can effect mood states in a college aged
population (Coats, Hansen, and Stevens 2001). Coats and colleagues (2001) hypothesized in
their experiment that the moods of their research participants will increase along with the
duration of exercise. There were three separate fitness portions of the experiment that the
participants could have performed. The first fitness test involved the participants performing a
general warm-up on an exercise bike before pedaling on an ergometer for ten minutes at sixty
percent of their estimated VO2 max. During the second fitness test offered to test participants, a
warm-up on a bike was followed by twenty minutes of pedaling on an ergometer at sixty percent
of VO2 max. The third and final fitness test involved participants performing a warm-up on a
bike before pedaling for thirty minutes on an ergometer at sixty percent of VO2 max. Following
the conclusion of testing, the test participants were instructed by the researchers to report their
mood states at the completion of the testing portion of the experiment by completing the POMS
inventory and test results from the experiment indicated that exercising at sixty percent of ones

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VO2 max for at least ten minutes may be sufficient enough to increase an individuals mood state
(Coats, et al. 2001).
Effects of Regular Physical Activity Participation on the Physiological States of Humans:
Regular physical activity helps improve the physiological states of individuals by
lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressures that rise in response to increased stress levels.
Research conducted by Hull, Young, and Ziegler (1984) has revealed the presence of a lower
increase in diastolic blood pressure following exposure to a psychological stressor in regular
physical activity participants than in their more sedentary counterparts (Brown 1988). Keller and
Sereganian (1984) discovered, among physically fit individuals, increases in pulse recovery rates
following exposure to a stressor (Brown 1988). This indicates a lower stress response in people
who regularly exercise than their sedentary counterparts.
A study was carried out by Brunning and Frew (1987) in an effort to investigate the
impact that various intervention strategies have on physiological indicators of stress. At the
beginning of the study, three hundred and fifty test subjects were separated into four groups,
including an exercise group that spent thirty minutes every other day engaged in an aerobic
activity of their choosing, such as running. Throughout the testing, measurements were taken by
the researchers on various physiological indicators of stress including pulse rate, systolic and
diastolic blood pressures, and galvanic skin response. Following a one-way analysis of variance
on each physiological measure that was studied, it was concluded by the researchers that all
intervention strategies, including regular exercise, yield positive results and impacts on pulse
rates and systolic blood pressures of individuals who choose to participate (Brunning and Frew
1987).

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Effects of Regular Physical Activity Participation on Emotional States of Humans:

Regular physical activity participation can help improve the emotional states of individuals by
increasing affective states and self-efficacy levels of participants. Separate studies conducted by
Hansen and Colleagues (2001) and Yew (1996) revealed a positive connection between acute
bouts of exercise and increases in positive mood and decreases in negative mood (Allan, D.L.,
Bryan, A., Hutchinson, K.E., & Seals, D.R. 2007). A study was carried out by Allan and
associates (2007) that sought to test a transdisciplinary model of the ways in which a variety of
factors, including physiological factors are thought to influence exercise and exercise behavior.
Prior to testing, all participants were given Mc Nair and associates (1971) Profile of Mood States
Test, which measures levels of vigor, tension, depression, and elation within individuals. In
laboratory session one of three, sixty four male and female college aged participants exerted
themselves at sixty percent VO2 max on a treadmill for thirty minutes while mood samples were
taken five, ten, and twenty minutes into the session. Following testing, participants were given
Lox and associates (2000) Physical Activity Affect Scale which measures exercise-induced
feeling states of positive affect, negative affect, and tranquility. Following testing by Bryan and
associates (2007) a positive correlation was found between increases in positive mood and acute
bouts of exercise (Allan, et al. 2007).
Various intervention studies carried out by Brown and colleagues (1995), Di Lorenzo and
colleagues (1999), and Edwards, Mathews, Moses, and Steptoe (1989) all revealed correlations
existing between physical activity and depression prevention (Dai, S., Des Meuels, M, Legace,
C., Morrison, H., and Wang, F. 2011). The purpose of the experiment mentioned in the article
was to assess the long-term effects of leisure-time physical activity, changes in leisure-time

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physical activity, and marital status on the risk of the development of depression in a sample of
seventeen thousand two hundred and seventy six Canadians with no mention in the article about
demographics of participants. One method that was used in this study to collect and measure data
on depression was the National Population Health Survey, or NHPS, which is an ongoing
longitudinal survey that assesses the long-term effects of leisure-time physical activity, changes
in leisure-time physical activity, and marital status on the risk of developing depression for
general Canadians. Seventeen thousand two hundred seventy six participants took part in this
study, however no mention of participant demographics was present in the article. The first
method used in the study to measure exercise in participants was the National Population Health
Survey, or the NHPS (Dai, et al. 2011). The NHPS is an ongoing longitudinal survey being
conducted by Statistics Canada that seeks to collect health data on Canadians aged twelve years
old and older. NHPS data used in the study mentioned in the article was from 1994/95, 1996/97,
1998/99, 2000/01, 2002/03, and 2004/05. The second method used in the study which measured
amounts of leisure-time physical activity in participants was the Minnesota Leisure-Time
Physical Activity Questionnaire and estimated intensity of activity levels based on the amount of
energy an individual was expending while participating in an activity. This questionnaire asked
respondents whether or not they had participated in with in a time frame of three months prior to
being given the survey any of twenty listed activities which included walking for exercise,
gardening, bicycling, swimming, and fishing. Activity intensity was estimated based on the
amount of energy expenditure a participant could expect while participating in that activity.
Participants who were expected to yield an energy expenditure of between 1.5 and 2.9 kcal/kg, or
kilocalories of energy per kilogram of body weight daily, were placed under the category of
Moderately Active. Participants who were expected to yield an energy expenditure greater than

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2.9 kilocalories per kilogram of body weight daily were placed under the category of Active.
Participants who were expected to yield an energy expenditure below 1.5 kilocalories per gram
of body weight daily were placed under the category of Inactive. Depression in the NPHS was
measured by the use of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Form for Depression
which measures nine symptoms of depression experienced by participants in the past twelve
months including feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, restlessness, and nervousness. In
carrying out the experiment, a statistical analysis was used that first used Bivariate Analysis that
examined differences between physically active and inactive people. Following the Bivariate
Analysis, a Discrete-time proportional hazards model was used to determine if Leisure-Time
Physical Activity was a risk factor for individuals in becoming depressed with separate analyses
being carried out for men and women. From 1994/1995 to 2004/2005, the average depression
rate among males was found to be 2.25% (m=2.25) while women were found to have a
depression rate of 4.07% (m=4.07). The study in the article supported findings by Augestad and
associates (2008), Ball and associates (2009), Farmer and associates (1988), and Brown and
associates (2005) that suggest Leisure- Time Physical Activity has protective effects for women
(Dai, et al. 2011).
There is a lot more to playing sports with friends and working out than beating your friends and
growing stronger muscles. Although stress can have many negative effects on human beings,
including burnout, by exercising regularly, humans can lower their levels of stress and Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder. Through regular participation in exercise, humans can also lower
blood pressures that rise in response to stressful situations, lowering their risk for health
problems associated with high blood pressures. Humans can improve their self-efficacy levels as
well as increase positive moods and thoughts through regular exercise. It might be important for

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college students everywhere to start exercising as final exam season approaches as exercise may
help college students everywhere keep calm as the busiest time of the semester begins. Those
who participate in an organized exercise program three days per week will experience lower
stress levels than those not participating in the exercise program.
Method
Participants:
Approximately fifty participants (N=50) will take part in this study. The participants will include
twenty five men (N=25) and twenty five women (N=25). Participants will range in age between
twenty years of age and fifty five years of age with an average age of 32.5 years. Participants
will be randomly selected from the Loras College faculty, staff, and students. During the
selection process of finding participants, participants with any medical conditions, including
asthma or a leg injury such as a sprained ankle, that may negatively affect their abilities to
participate in physical activity for a sustained period of time, in the case of our experiment a
period of forty five minutes, will be excluded from participation in the experiment as a
precautionary measure in order to reduce the chances of triggering an asthma attack as well as
the chances of aggravating their sprained ankle.
Materials:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Stationary exercise bike in a fitness center

Beakers and test tubes for saliva collection from participants
Device used to measure cortisol levels
Laptop computer to run tests on data using SPSS program
Treadmill from a fitness center

Research Design:

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My proposed research project will utilize both an experimental design as well as a correlational
design. The two variables that will be tested will be exercise which will include a fifteen minute
warm up period followed by forty five minutes on an exercise bike or forty five minutes on a
treadmill will be my Independent Variable and levels of stress measured by levels of cortisol in
saliva, will be my Dependent Variable.
Procedure:
To begin this experiment, research participants will first be divided into separate groups based on
age as well as on gender. Following the sorting of participants into their respected group, baseline levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, will be obtained from a sample of each participants
saliva, measured, and recorded. Participants will then participate in fifteen minutes of dynamic
stretching exercises in order to warm up their muscles as well as to prepare themselves for the
test before participating in a forty five minute session of aerobic exercise that will consist of
riding on a stationary bike or running on a treadmill at an eight minute mile pace. Immediately
following the exercise intervention, participants will have their post-exercise levels of cortisol
measured through a second sample of saliva. Following a collection of post-exercise saliva
samples, an electrolyte beverage such as Gatorade will be given to each participant before the
participants take part in a fifteen minute post-exercise stretching session. Following the
stretching session, participants will be thanked for their participation in the experiment before
being dismissed. Finally, a computer program such as SPSS will be used in the analysis of preand post-exercise cortisol levels for each participant who took part in the experiment to see if any
changes exist between pre- and post-test cortisol levels. Participants will be told before the
experiment that at any time they have the right to withdraw from participation and that all of the
information regarding their stress levels will be kept confidential.

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Results:
An Independent Samples T-test was carried out in an effort to see how participation in an
exercise program that involves riding on a stationary bike three days a week for thirty minutes
affects levels of stress in different genders. Following four weeks of riding on the stationary bike
for thirty minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, both males and females would show
decreased cortisol levels in their saliva, indicating a decrease in baseline stress levels among both
genders. In using an independent samples t-test to see the effects of riding a stationary bike three
days a week for thirty minutes on cortisol levels of different genders, our p-value would be set at
0.05 (p>0.05), which would indicate that there would be a ninety five percent chance that the
results of our experiment would be significant.
Descriptive Statistics:
In order to run descriptive statistics on data related to exercise and stress levels among
participants, you would enter the data into SPSS by organizing your data into different categories
including the categories of baseline levels of cortisol, cortisol levels following one week of
training, cortisol levels following two weeks of training, cortisol levels following three weeks of
training, and final cortisol levels. You would then run an independent samples t-test in SPSS
with your p-value set at 0.05(p>0.05), which as indicated earlier would indicate a ninety five
percent chance that results would be significant. After running the independent samples t-test
you would look at the p-value and if the p-value is larger than our alpha, we can reject our null
and say that riding on a stationary bike does in fact lead to decreases in cortisol levels in males as
well as in females. If our p-value is smaller than our alpha, we can accept our null hypothesis
and say that riding on a stationary bike does not lead to decreases in cortisol levels of males or
females. I predict that mean stress levels of all participants, regardless of gender would be

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higher prior to exercising on the stationary bike rather than after exercising on the stationary
bike.
Discussion:
The current study was carried out in an effort to see how regular participation in an organized
exercise program would affect the stress levels of different genders. It was hypothesized that
following a four week testing period involving participants riding on a stationary bike for thirty
minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week of testing, cortisol levels of participants
would show a gradual decrease from week to week in every participant taking part in the
experiment. For our testing of data comparing pre- as well as post-exercise cortisol levels in
participants, we ran an independent samples t-test which had a p-value of 0.05 (p>0.05).
Following analysis of our data, our p-value was larger than our alpha which after seeing this we
came to the conclusion that riding on a stationary bike does lead to decreased cortisol levels in
males as well as in females. Our study would relate to Ahlborg and colleagues (2011) because
like the current study, they were able to come to the conclusion that increases in physical activity
do in fact have the potential to decrease symptoms of stress including those of anxiety and
depression levels among participants (Ahlborg, etal. 2011). Future research experiments could
be carried out and use a different variable, such as age, to see how exercising regularly
influences levels of stress among individuals of various ages.

References:
Ahlborg, G., Jr., Borjesson, M., Gerber, M., Jonsdottir, I.H., &Lindwall, M., (2014). The
relationships of change in physical activity with changes in depression, anxiety, and

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The young finns study. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 21 (6), 908-917.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10/1007/s12529-013-9376-0.

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