University of the Philippines Cebu

Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, Cebu City

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

For Psychological Statistics (Psych 110)

The Relationship between Stress Levels

and Weekly Exercise Frequency
An Empirical Paper

Submitted by:
Abellanosa, Mary Francine D.
Del Mar, Elian
Jarabo, Keannu von

Submitted to:
Ms. Rowena V. Mende
Professor

Author Note
The authors of this study are currently enrolled in University of the Philippines - Cebu currently taking
Psychology 110 - Psychological Statistics. We do not have any conflicts of interest to be disclosed.

We would like to thank Ms. Rowena V. Mende for her guidance throughout the writing of this study.

Correspondence concerning this study should be addressed to Elian R. del Mar. Email:
erdelmar@up.edu.ph

Stress is a natural aspect of human life. It can
even be said that a normal and controlled
amount of it can contribute to a healthy and
productive personality and activity. However, an
uncontrolled amount of stress can bear the
opposite and can bring about negative and
harmful effects to the person unable to deal
with them well. With this, techniques and
strategies to deal with stress have been
formulated, made, and disseminated in order
for more and more people to be able to learn
how to control their stress and alleviate the
negative effects of its excess. At the time of this
writing, the researchers are interested in looking
into the use of exercise or physical activity in the
alleviation of stress. Specifically, they aim to
look at the kind of effect it has relative to its
frequency towards the level of stress
experienced.
I. Review of Related Literature
Exercise has long been a marker of
good health not just physically, but mentally
and emotionally as well. While frequent exercise
is associated with more health benefits, even a
single bout of exercise has been shown to be
associated with improved executive functions,
enhanced mood states, and decreased stress
levels (Suzuki & Basso, 2017). Exercise can
improve one’s overall mood and reduce stress
by diverting attention away from sources of
stress and decreasing muscle tension (Ratey,
2019). In addition, exercise may also prevent
stress in the first place by improving their
resiliency to stress. A study investigating the
association between emotional resiliency to
acute stress found that regular exercise had
significantly lower heart rates than sedentary
participants when exposed to a psychosocial
stressor. They also showed a smaller decline in
positive affect compared to sedentary
participants when they experienced a stressful
situation. (Childs & de Wit, 2014).
On the biochemical level, it may also
assist in the production of endorphins—natural
painkillers and mood elevators that help cope
2
with stress—while reducing stress hormones
such as adrenaline and cortisol (Harvard Health
Publishing, 2020). Research shows that exercise
and physical activity, in general, may be an
effective strategy for preventing depression
(Choi, et. al., 2019) and that increasing physical
activity volume is related to higher levels of
happiness (Richards, 2015). Even a simple
ten-minute physical activity per week may result
in increased happiness. Exercise has even been
shown to help solve serious mental health issues
such as depression. In one study, for example,
the effect of exercise on patients diagnosed
with major depression disorder is comparable to
the efficacy of antidepressant medication
(Blumenthal, et al., 2007). Exercise can also
indirectly improve mental health, decrease
stress, and make people happier by increasing
self-esteem. When people exercise and feel
good about themselves, they get a boost in
self-esteem and feel happier as a result (Fisher,
2020).
The frequency of exercise is highly
correlated with stress levels according to de
Camargo, et al. (2021) conducted amidst the
COVID-19 restrictions. The study affirmed the
popular concept in the literature of exercise and
stress levels which goes to say that the higher
the frequency of a person’s exercise, the lower
his/her stress levels are regardless of the
adjustments done in relation to other factors
like body type (overweight & obesity), age and
food consumption. Specifically, those who
exercise 4 to 5 times a week, as part of the
study’s minimum recommendation to obtain
health benefits, had significantly higher stress
levels compared to those who exercise 6 to 7
times a week. While those who ceased to do
physical activity had the highest stress levels
among others (de Camargo, et al., 2021).
A. Statement of the Problem
The study aims to identify the effect of
weekly exercise frequency on the level of stress
experienced by answering the questions:

1. What kind of effect does the
participants’ weekly exercise frequency
have on the level of stress that they
experience?
2. Which frequency of exercise would
result in the lowest mean level of stress
among the participants?
3. Which frequency of exercise would
result in the highest mean level of stress
among the participants?
B. Hypotheses
Null Hypothesis: There are no
significant differences among the three groups
in terms of stress levels.
Alternative Hypothesis: There are
significant differences among the three groups
in terms of stress levels.
II. Methodology
1. Participants
Participants in this study were not
subject to any criteria when selected other than
that they should be capable of exercising
whether they actually do or not.
Socio-demographic information on the 45
participants were not collected as they were not
relevant to the research problem being studied
by the researchers.
2. Method
A deviation of the snowball sampling
method was used to gather the needed number
of participants for data analysis to be
administered. Links to the survey were
disseminated through the associates of the
researchers who may or may not exercise and
they themselves were asked to send the same
link to interested peers who themselves have
varying frequencies of exercise.
3. Variables
Based on existing literature, a
relationship between exercise and stress levels
3
have been established. With this, the
researchers wanted to test if the frequency of
exercise would also affect the levels of stress.
For the independent variable of weekly exercise
frequency, the researchers decided to have
three groups: No Exercise, Occasional Exercise
(1-3 times a week), and Frequent Exercise (4-7
times a week). For the dependent variable of
stress levels, an 11-point Likert scale was used
for its measurement.
4. Instrument
An online survey was created in order to
conduct the data collection. The form and
questions were structured using the English
Language. The form would first ask for their
emails in order for the researchers to ensure that
real people answered the survey. It then asked
about the weekly frequency of their exercise.
The next question pertained to their stress
levels which was presented in an 11-point Likert
scale.
5. Procedure
Data was gathered using an online
Google Forms survey accessed through a link
provided for by the researchers. It asked
participants to answer a Likert scale and a
multiple choice question in order for the
researchers to gather the necessary data.
6. Data Analysis
The data gathered through the
collection process will be processed through the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS)
program. A statistical analysis (One-Way
ANOVA) will be done in order to make concrete
conclusions and answer the research questions.
Ethical considerations
7. Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations were considered
and applied before and after the data collection
process. Before any data was collected, an
informed consent form had to be filled out by
the participants in order for them to proceed to
 4

the questions themselves. If they answered
“no”, they were immediately sent to the final
section of the survey, without any data
collected. The researchers ensured that names
or any form of explicit identification was not
taken during the data collection process in
order to protect the confidentiality and
anonymity of the participants.
7.1 Data Privacy
Only the researchers and their
adviser are allowed to access the raw data
collected from the data gathering process. The
data will be stored in Google Drive, shared
between the three researchers. They will be
permitted to make their own offline copies of
the raw data for personal use pertaining only to
the data presentation and analysis of this
research. All copies of the data will be promptly
deleted once the research has been completed,
approved, and graded by the research adviser.
7.2 Benefits and Risks
Participants of this study will not
have any direct and immediate benefits.
The results of this research, however,
may add to the existing body of
research pertaining to the relationship
between exercise and stress levels,
which could benefit the participants if
they are interested in this particular
topic of research.

III. Results

Table 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and One-Way Analyses of Variance stress levels according to weekly
exercise frequency.

Frequent exercise Occasional exercise No exercise F(2,42)

M SD M SD M SD

stress levels 4.47 2.973 7.93 1.486 8.13 1.642 13.918**

**p<0.001

Table 2

Descriptive table of stress levels for the relationship between Weekly Exercise Frequency and Stress
Levels.
95% Confidence
Interval for Mean
Std. lower upper
Exercise frequency N Mean Std. error minimum maximum
deviation bound bound
No exercise 15 8.13 1.642 0.424 7.22 9.04 4 10

Occasional exercise 15 7.93 1.486 0.384 7.11 8.76 5 10

 5

Frequent exercise 15 4.47 2.973 0.768 2.82 6.11 0 10

Total 45 6.84 2.696 0.402 6.03 7.65 0 10

Table 3

One-way ANOVA

Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig

Between groups 127.511 2 63.756 13.918 0.000

Within groups 192.400 42 4.581
Total 319.911 44

Table 4

Post hoc tests - Multiple Comparisons

95% Confidence Interval for

Mean
(I) (J) Mean
Frequency of Frequency of difference Std. error Sig. lower bound upper bound
exercise exercise (I-J)

No exercise Occasional
0.200 0.782 1.000 -1.75 2.15
exercise
Frequent
3.667* 0.782 0.000 1.72 5.62
exercise
Occasional
No exercise -0.200 0.782 1.000 -2.15 1.75
exercise
Frequent
3.467* 0.782 0.000 1.52 5.42
exercise
Frequent
No exercise -3.667* 0.782 0.000 -5.62 -1.72
exercise
Occasional
-3.467* 0.782 0.000 -5.42 -1.52
exercise
*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level

Decision Rule: Reject the Null Hypothesis. Results show that there are significant differences
among the three groups in terms of stress levels.

Analysis of Variance showed that the
frequency of exercise has a significant effect on
stress levels, F = (2,42) = 13.918, p<0.05. A test
of multiple comparisons using Bonferroni’s test
revealed that those who exercised Frequently
(M = 4.47, sd = 2.973) had significantly lower
stress levels compared to those who had No
Exercise (M = 8.13, sd = 1.642) and Occasional
Exercise (M = 7.93, sd = 1.486). There is no
significant difference between those who had
No Exercise and those who had Occasional
Exercise in terms of stress levels. Thus, it is
recommended to exercise 4-7 times a week in
order to have the lowest stress levels.
IV. Discussion
A. Interpretation
The researchers found that there are
significant differences among the three groups
in terms of stress levels. However, upon
processing the data in a test of multiple
comparisons using Bonferroni’s test, it is
revealed that there is no significant difference
between those who do not exercise and those
who exercise occasionally in terms of stress
levels. In the conduct of the study, findings are
enumerated. The more frequent a person’s
exercise is, the lower the stress levels that
person has. Conversely, the less frequent a
person’s exercise is, the higher the stress levels
that person has. Frequent exercise (4-7 times a
week) led to the lowest mean level of stress,
while no exercise led to the highest mean level
of stress.
B. Similarity of Results
The results of the present research
coincide with previous findings in the literature.
A study by Childs & de Wit (2014) exploring the
association between regular exercise and
emotional resiliency to stress has similar results
to the ones presented here. The former
research, which like the present research, relied
on self-reported weekly exercise frequency. It
was shown that those who exercised regularly
had a smaller decline in positive affect during
6
stressful situations despite their baseline
positive and negative affect being the same as
that of sedentary participants. Their findings
suggest that exercise could improve stress
resilience, a finding that might explain the
reason behind similar results in the present
study. Another possible explanation for stress’
effect on exercise is its ability to produce
mood-elevating biochemicals and reduce stress
hormones (Choi, et. al., 2019). The positive
effects of exercise on self-esteem and,
indirectly, stress, could also be a contributing
factor to the findings of the present study.
Overall, the results of this empirical paper
concur with pre-existing psychological literature
exploring associations between stress and
exercise: that exercise may improve mood,
decrease stress, and improve psychological
health in total (Suzuki & Brasso, 2017; Ratey,
2019).
However, there is a slight disagreement
between the results of this study compared to
the literature of de Camargo, et al. (2021) about
the cross-sectional study of frequency of
physical activity and stress levels. The findings
generated from the study de Camargo, et al.
(2021) has shown that those who do not
exercise at all have significantly higher stress
levels compared to those who do exercise no
matter the frequency. Contrary to this, the
researchers’ study upon subjecting the raw data
under a test of multiple comparisons using
Bonferroni’s test revealed that there is no
significant difference between those who do not
exercise and those who exercise occasionally in
terms of stress levels.
C. Limitations
Because the study was focused solely
on the relationship between the frequency of
exercise and its effect on perceived stress levels,
the results are limited in terms of the variables
focused on. The study did not make use of
other variables that could have an effect on the
perceived stress levels of a person such as
sociodemographic characteristics and the type
 7

of exercise that they engage in. The use of be done in order to know which reduces stress
perceived stress levels as a measure of stress most effectively.
also limits the research in terms of accuracy
since these are subjective perceptions of stress
and not an exact, accurate, and precise measure
of it. As the research sought to determine the
relationship between exercise frequency and
perceived stress levels, data collected did not
include the participants’ sociodemographic
characteristics, where the various variables
under this umbrella can perhaps have an effect
on the frequency of exercise and the perceived
stress levels of the participants.

V. Conclusion
It has been shown through the results
that there is a relationship between exercise
frequency and perceived stress levels. It is
shown that exercise frequency has a significant
effect on stress levels, where the participants
who exercised had significantly lower levels of
perceived stress as opposed to those who did
not exercise at all. The results of this study has
some congruence with the findings of Childs &
de Wit (2014) and Choi, et. al. (2019) supporting
the idea that exercise has an effect on stress,
where the latter is reduced as a result of the
former. As such, the researchers recommend
exercise as an effective technique towards the
healthy reduction of stress.

Recommendations
It is recommended that a study, that
also looks into the relationship between
exercise and stress levels, should be conducted
albeit with a larger sample size as well as the
integration and comparison between multiple
variables. Sociodemographic characteristics like
age, educational attainment, socio-economic
status, biological sex, and gender can be
variables that can be taken into account when
looking into the relationship of exercise
frequency and stress levels. The type of exercise
that the participant is doing should also be
considered in order for the researchers to be
able to determine what kind of exercise should
 8

References: much you need to improve your mood”.

Blumenthal JA, et al. (2007). “Exercise and Insider. Retrieved from:
pharmacotherapy in the treatment of https://www.insider.com/does-exercise-
major depressive disorder”. Psychosom make-you-happy
Med, 69(7), 587-596. Harvard Health Publishing. (July 7, 2020).
DOI:10.1097/PSY.0b013e318148c19a “Exercising to relax: How does exercise
Childs, E., de Wit, H. (2014). Regular exercise is reduce stress?” Harvard Health
associated with emotional resilience to Publishing. Retrieved from:
acute stress in healthy adults. Frontiers https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-
in Physiology, 5, 161. healthy/exercising-to-relax
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2014.001 Ratey, J. (October 24, 2019). “Can exercise help
61 treat anxiety?”. Harvard Health
Choi, et. al (January 23, 2019). “Assessment of Publishing. Retrieved from:
Bidirectional Relationships Between https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ca
Physical Activity and Depression Among n-exercise-help-treat-anxiety-20191024
Adults: A 2-Sample Mendelian 18096
Randomization Study”. JAMA Richards, J., et al. (2015). “Don't worry, be
psychiatry, 76(4), 399–408. DOI: happy: cross-sectional associations
10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.4175 between physical activity and happiness
de Camargo, E. M., Piola, T. S., dos Santos, L. P., in 15 European countries”. BMC public
de Borba, E. F., de Campos, W., & da health, 15, 53. DOI:
Silva, S. G. (2021). Frequency of https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-13
physical activity and stress levels among 91-4
Brazilian adults during social distancing Suzuki, W. A. & Basso, J. C.(2017). The Effects
due to the coronavirus (COVID-19): of Acute Exercise on Mood, Cognition,
cross-sectional study. Sao Paulo Medical Neurophysiology, and Neurochemical
Journal, 139(4), 325–330. Pathways: A Review. Brain plasticity
https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.202 (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2(2),
0.0706.r1.0802021 127–152.
Fisher, M. (November 10, 2020). “7 ways https://doi.org/10.3233/BPL-160040
exercise makes you happy—and how
 9

Appendix A

Sample Research Tool

1. Please input your email address.

2. On a weekly basis, how often do you exercise?
a. I exercise frequently (4-7 times a week)
b. I exercise occasionally (1-3 times a week)
c. I do not exercise at all (0 times a week)
Perceived Stress Level Scale
3. Using the scale below, how stressed do you generally feel? (0 = lowest, 10 = highest)

No Stress Moderately Stressed Extremely

at All Stressed

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 10

Appendix B

Informed Consent Form

Greetings of peace and hope!

We are 1st year Bachelor of Arts in Psychology students taking the PSYCH 110 - Psychological Statistics
class from the University of the Philippines - Cebu. We are conducting a study with the title,

“The Relationship Between Weekly Exercise Frequency and Stress Levels.”

If you are reading this right now, we are here to formally request for your consent and participation in
our study.

–Participant Selection
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, questionnaires will be distributed online. The researchers will
be using the purposive sampling method in gathering the participants. There are no specific
requirements to be a participant in this survey.

–Voluntary Participation
Participation in this research is entirely voluntary. In case you would like to discontinue your participation
for any reason, please inform the researchers immediately. You are allowed to withdraw at any
point and will not face any consequences for doing so.

–Risks
Participation in this study will not do you any harm. This research entails no physical or emotional risk to
you beyond what you might experience in daily life. However, if you feel any discomfort upon
answering some of the questions, you may inform the researchers at any time. As with all other
research, there is a probability that the confidentiality of the information we collect from you
could be breached. However, we will take all precautionary measures and actions to minimize
this risk and protect the data gathered. Additionally, rest assured that all information will not be
used for malicious purposes.

–Benefits
Being a participant in this study is unlikely to provide you with any immediate benefits. While
participating in this research would not help you directly, your participation will help the
researchers with the fulfillment of their course requirement. Furthermore, it may also provide
additional information on the relationship between one's exercise frequency and stress levels.

–Sharing the results

The results gathered from this research may be included in publications and presentations. The gathered
data from your participation may be shared with other researchers for future research studies.
The researchers will share the study to you and ask for your consent before being widely
distributed. Any personal information that could identify you prior to the distribution of data will
be eradicated.
 11

–Confidentiality
To avoid violations of confidentiality, the data obtained from this study, both hard copies and soft
copies, will be maintained in a safe environment to which only the researchers will have access.
Any soft copies of the data will be encrypted or password secured, while hard copies will be kept
for nearly two years before being discarded and shredded. Moreover, participants of the survey
are protected under the Republic Act No. 10173 or Data Privacy Act. Therefore, your
identification in this survey is protected.

–Questions and/or Concerns

If you have any questions, you may contact the assigned researcher:
Del Mar, Elian R. (erdelmar@up.edu.ph)

–Participant’s Consent
Yes, I understand the statements above and give my consent to participate.
No, I have chosen not to participate in this study.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

In doing research, the protection of every participant’s rights and protection through all necessary and
appropriate ethical principles are important. Specifically, in this research paper, different ethical
considerations to appraise were made such as (a) voluntary participation, (b) Informed Consent
Form, and (c) confidentiality for gatekeeping.

Voluntary Participation. Firstly, in the process of participant selection, the researchers made sure that all
possible participants’ participation in the said survey and research process is voluntary and non
compulsory. Beforehand, all of the participants were first and foremost asked if they were willing
to answer relevant questions on the topic for research specifically on exercise frequency and
stress levels.

Informed Consent Form. All participants who agreed to join the research were given the Informed
Consent Form discussing all possible ethical concerns including the risks, benefits, and
confidentiality. They were made to read and understand the Informed Consent Form, and then
they were asked to provide their e-signatures so their full consent was indicated and appraised
by the researchers. The informed consent form was important since it contains everything that
the participants have to know about their rights and the reason for research as well as how the
data will be protected under any circumstances.

Gatekeeping. The confidentiality and full reliability of the data collected for the research are under the
researchers’ efforts for gatekeeping. In order to make sure that all of the information collected
won’t be disclosed in any unwanted nature, the researchers have applied a researcher-only folder
for their data collection and analysis procedure wherein only the researchers are able to access
the full and raw data provided by the respondents. Furthermore, the researchers also made sure
to inform the respondents that their information and answers will be used for the research
project the researchers are in compliance with their course requirements and will thus be shared
with their Professor on the subject through the Informed Consent Form. The respondents were
also made aware of the risks that they can get and are exposed to when they decide to
participate in the research. Furthermore, in a major effort to protect their personal information
 12

and answers to the questionnaire, the researchers followed the ethical requirement for security
and confidentiality and stored the survey data in a secure centralized platform.
 13

Appendix C

Data Tables Processed by SPSS

Table 1

Means, Standard Deviations, and One-Way Analyses of Variance stress levels according to weekly
exercise frequency

Frequent exercise Occasional exercise No exercise F(2,42)

M SD M SD M SD

stress levels 4.47 2.973 7.93 1.486 8.13 1.642 13.918**

**p<0.001

Table 2

Descriptive table of stress levels for the relationship between Weekly Exercise Frequency and Stress
Levels
95% Confidence
Interval for Mean
Std. lower upper
Exercise frequency N Mean Std. error minimum maximum
deviation bound bound
No exercise 15 8.13 1.642 0.424 7.22 9.04 4 10

Occasional exercise 15 7.93 1.486 0.384 7.11 8.76 5 10

Frequent exercise 15 4.47 2.973 0.768 2.82 6.11 0 10

Total 45 6.84 2.696 0.402 6.03 7.65 0 10

Table 3

One-way ANOVA

Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig

Between groups 127.511 2 63.756 13.918 0.000

Within groups 192.400 42 4.581
Total 319.911 44
 14

Table 4

Post hoc tests - Multiple Comparisons

95% Confidence Interval for

Mean
(I) (J) Mean
Frequency of Frequency of difference Std. error Sig. lower bound upper bound
exercise exercise (I-J)

No exercise Occasional
0.200 0.782 1.000 -1.75 2.15
exercise
Frequent
3.667* 0.782 0.000 1.72 5.62
exercise
Occasional
No exercise -0.200 0.782 1.000 -2.15 1.75
exercise
Frequent
3.467* 0.782 0.000 1.52 5.42
exercise
Frequent
No exercise -3.667* 0.782 0.000 -5.62 -1.72
exercise
Occasional
-3.467* 0.782 0.000 -5.42 -1.52
exercise
*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level