Stress buffering effects of physical activity in adolescents: the moderating role of physical activity attitudes

Adolescents may experience stressful life events and associated physical and psychological symptoms of stress. Physical activity has a buffering effect on stress. However, whether physical activity attitudes modulate stress, and the relationship between physical activity attitudes, physical activity, and stress symptoms is unclear. The present study focuses on whether adolescent stress events predict stress symptoms, whether physical activity buffers stress, and whether this stress-buffering effect is enhanced when attitudes toward physical activity are positive.

A stratified and cluster sampling method was used to select 2420 junior high school students from nine provinces from each of the three economic zones (with high GDP level, medium GDP level, and low GPD level) of eastern, western, and central China and the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, the Calgary Symptoms of Stress Inventory, the Physical Activity Rating Scale, and the behavioral attitude dimension of the Physical Activity Attitude Scale were used to investigate adolescent stress events, stress symptoms, physical activity, and physical activity attitudes respectively. There are 1,190 boys and 1,230 girls from seventh to ninth grade 12-15 years old.

Adolescents' stress events and stress symptoms showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.479, P < 0.01). The more stressful events adolescents have, the more pronounced stress symptoms become. The interaction term between the total amount of physical activity and stress events was not influential on stress symptoms (P = 0.461), and neither was the distinction between high and moderate physical activity levels (P_h = 0.248, P_m = 0.245). There was a moderating effect of physical activity attitudes on stress buffering for moderate physical activity levels (P < 0.01). The moderating effect was stronger when adolescents had positive attitudes toward physical activity.

Adolescent physical activity can buffer the effects of stress events on stress symptoms when physical activity attitudes are positive, revealing that stimulating adolescents' physical activity initiative can promote physical activity to buffer stress.