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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Environmental resources moderate the relationship between social support and school sports participation among
Dan J Graham1, Margaret Schneider, Sally S Dickerson
1University of California, Irvine, Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, 4558 Social and Behavioral Sciences, Irvine, CA 92697, USA. djgraham@umn.edu
Background:
Most Americans are not active at recommended levels. Adolescence is a developmental period when physical activity (PA) decreases markedly.
Methods:
This study investigates whether access to environmental PA resources moderates the relationship between psychosocial resources (social support and perceived competence) and PA among 192 adolescents.
Results:
Environmental access to PA resources (determined via GIS-based assessment of the number of gyms, schools, trails, parks and athletic fields within 0.5 miles of each participant's home) moderated the association between social support and PA; among adolescents with high levels of environmental resources, greater social support was associated with students participating in a greater number of sports in school, whereas no such relationship emerged among adolescents with low environmental resources.
Conclusions:
PA-promotion interventions should aim to enhance both social and environmental resources; targeting either one alone may be insufficient.
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