Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in higher-than-normal levels of anxiety and depression, especially among graduate students whose academic trajectory was disrupted. Physical activity and trait resiliency have both been shown to protect against stress-induced anxiety and depression during the pandemic. However, it remains unknown whether the same was true for graduate students and what biological mechanism, such as heart rate variability (HRV) might underpin these relationships.
Method: We examined change in stress, current physical activity, and trait resiliency to identify key factors associated with better mental health outcomes in a national sample of graduate students (N = 61) who were recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluated the unique contributions of change in graduate-school-related stress, physical activity (moderate, vigorous, and fitness), and trait resiliency to both anxiety and depression. We conducted moderation analyses to explore the processes through which these variables interact and mediation analyses to examine whether HRV was part of the underlying mechanism. Questionnaire were used to assess graduate-school-related stress, physical activity (moderate, vigorous), and trait resiliency. We estimated physical fitness using the six-minute walk test and captured resting HRV using a validated mobile application.
Results: Graduate students reporting greater change in school-related stress were more anxious and depressed; however, those who engaged in more moderate physical activity were less anxious and those with higher trait resiliency were less anxious and depressed. Moderation analyses revealed a “stress threshold” for moderate physical activity whereby students who were more physically active were more protected from anxiety symptoms than their lower active peers; but this was only true for people whose stress levels increased a little or moderately but not for people whose stress levels increased a lot. In contrast, trait resiliency was shown to buffer against depression regardless of change in stress level. HRV did not mediate these relationships.
Conclusion: Graduate students experienced significant mental strain during the COVID-19 pandemic, but physical activity and trait resiliency may be promising protective factors. / Thesis / Master of Science in Kinesiology
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/26818 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Marashi, Maryam |
| Contributors | Heisz, Jennifer, Kinesiology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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