Acute exercise improves emotion regulation in college students following social stress

Despite findings that acute exercises can regulate emotions, more specific research is needed to distinguish more efficient exercise types. This paper examines the effects and differences of three acute moderate exercise types on emotion regulation after a social stress event.

A total of 72 college students were randomly assigned into 4 groups: single aerobic group (Gsa), paired aerobic group (Gpa), dynamic stretching group (Gds), and sitting group (Gs) as a control group. Each participant in groups experienced a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) for social stress induction and a 15-min group intervention. The participants' states on emotions were measured 3 times by the Profile of Mood State (POMS), and their variations were statistically analyzed.

(1) The scores of Stress, POMS Tension and Vigour significantly reduced in all 4 groups. (2) The scores of POMS Anger significantly increased in both Gsa and Gpa, and the score of Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) significantly increased only in the Gpa. (3) The scores of POMS Depression, Confusion and TMD significantly reduced in the Gds, specifically in which POMS Depression reduced more than Gsa or Gpa, and TMD reduced more than Gpa.

The three acute moderate exercise types exhibited no advantage on alleviating the stress and tension of college students after social stress event, whereas the acute dynamic stretching exercise shew better effects on regulating negative emotions, especially on depression than the aerobic exercise.