Date of Award

Fall 2021

Publication Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.H.K.

Department

Kinesiology

Keywords

Coping, COVID-19, Physical activity, Stress

Supervisor

C.J. Miller

Supervisor

M.P. Krause

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the most recent threat to global health (Fauci, Lane, & Redfield, 2020), impacting university students’ mental and physical health. Few studies currently exist that investigate the impact of online learning and COVID-19 have on stress and coping in university students (Bao, 2020; Xiao et al., 2020). Therefore, the purpose of the study was to investigate if students were using physical activity as a coping strategy for stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey assessing student stress, physical activity, and coping flexibility was completed by 276 undergraduate students (mean age 21.1 ± 2.7 years). Findings indicated that physical activity (p < .005) and coping flexibility (p < .001) significantly predicted the odds of an undergraduate student using physical activity as a coping strategy, whereas student stress did not (p = .082). As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into its’ second year, future research on stress, physical activity, and coping should continue in order to help promote physical and mental health among university students.

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Kinesiology Commons

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