Sambandet mellan fysisk aktivitet och upplevd stress hos personer med fysiskt inaktiva sysselsättningar : En kvantitativ enkätstudie

Sammanfattning: During the period July 2019 and July 2022, Försäkringskassan reported an increase of 13% for sickness absence in psychiatric diagnoses that were primarily stress related. Previous research highlights the beneficial effects that regular physical activity has on treating and preventing diseases and psychiatric conditions (Folkhälsomyndigheten, 2021; Hjärt- och lungfonden, 2018; WHO, 2020). Physical activities can be used as a method to prevent stress and improve mental health (Schnohr et al., 2004; Matzer et al., 2018; Gualdi-Russo & Zaccagni, 2021; An et al., 2020). The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity and how stress is experienced in individuals with physical inactive occupations where motivation has also been investigated. The respondents answered an online survey that consisted of validated assessment questions from the National Board of Health and Welfare's indicator questions on physical activity, The Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire and Perceived Stress Scale-14. There were 139 final respondents between the ages of 18–63 years (M =31.07; SD=12.78), of these 87 were women and 52 were men. The tests were calculated, coded and weighted before the data analysis was carried out. The results showed a significant negative correlation between physical activity and stress, where less stress occurred in the respondents who had more minutes of activity. With more self-determined motivational regulation, people were more physically active, who in turn reported a lower level of perceived stress. Continued research on how personality and motivational regulation interact should be investigated to provide continued understanding of how individuals can be motivated to physical activity.