The Influence of Aerobic Exercise on State Anxiety in College Students

Many college students have feelings of state anxiety, a temporary emotional response that is described by subjective, perceived feelings of concern, stress, and apprehension. The present study measured state anxiety across participants separated into a control and experimental group, which performed an exercise routine. Participants were also designated as regular or non-exercisers. Individuals in the experimental group and those who do not normally exercise were predicted to show larger decreases in state anxiety. All participants completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale at three separate sessions over a two-week time span. Results showed no significant effect of group placement, amount of exercise in everyday life, or in the interaction of these variables. THE INFLUENCE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE ON STATE ANXIETY IN COLLEGE STUDENTS Anxiety affects the lives of many college-aged students, and its influence is often exacerbated during the academic year. Finding preventive measures or mitigating anxiety can be difficult for college students, and the option of seeking professional help is not always available or realistic. State anxiety, the focus of the present study, is the temporary experience of emotional arousal when encountering situations or demands subjectively interpreted as threatening or dangerous (Schlicht, 1994; Schwarzer, 1997). Many individuals face difficulties with state anxiety from constantly encountering stressful demands and new situations that could be viewed as psychologically menacing (Bartholomew & Linder, 1998). State anxiety tends to increase when individuals are placed in stressful situations such as studying, memorizing large portions of content in small periods of time, grade competition, and rigorous examination periods (Misra & McKean, 2000). In association with feelings of state anxiety, individuals often experience feelings of depression, desperation, and suicidal thoughts (Taliaferro, Rienzo, Pigg, Miller & Dodd, 2009). In order to combat state anxiety and other negative mood states, several studies explored exercise as a technique for improving emotional welfare. Research into this method specifically focuses on aerobic exercise as the physical training regime that is most effective in combating state anxiety, due to the universal acceptance of aerobic exercise as a positive mediator of physiological and mental health GS019 JUR09_GS JUR text 1/21/10 4:28 PM Page 1