Catherine Elliot

Are Adolescents With High Mental Toughness Levels More Resilient Against Stress

Mental toughness has been explored predominantly within sport contexts. Nevertheless, it is difficult to conceive mental toughness as only applicable to athletes. This study examines whether mentally tough participants exhibit resilience against stress. This is a cross-sectional study based on two different samples: Sample 1 consisted of 284 high school students (99 males, 185 females, M = 18.3 years). Sample 2 consisted of 140 first through fifth semester undergraduate students (53 males, 87 females, M = 20.0 years). Participants provided information about their level of perceived stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), mental toughness (48-item Mental Toughness Questionnaire) and depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory). Consistent across the two samples, mental toughness mitigated the relationship between high stress and depressive symptoms. The interaction between stress and mental toughness explained 2% of variance in the adolescent sample and 10% of variance among young adults. The promotion of protective factors that foster resilient adaptation is a relevant issue. Mental toughness may appeal to individuals that are typically difficult to be reached with health interventions. Because mental toughness is part of young peoples daily speech, it may serve as a less academic resource than other health psychology concepts.

Aerobic exercise training and burnout: a pilot study with male participants suffering from burnout

BackgroundOccupational burnout is associated with severe negative health effects. While stress management programs proved to have a positive influence on the well-being of patients suffering from burnout, it remains unclear whether aerobic exercise alleviates burnout severity and other parameters related to occupational burnout. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to pilot-test the potential outcomes of a 12-week exercise training to generate hypotheses for future larger scale studies.MethodsThe sample consisted of 12 male participants scoring high on the MBI emotional exhaustion and depersonalization subscales. The training program took place in a private fitness center with a 17.5 kcal/kg minimum requirement of weekly energy expenditure.ResultsThe key findings are that increased exercise reduced overall perceived stress as well as symptoms of burnout and depression. The magnitude of the effects was large, revealing changes of substantial practical relevance. Additionally, profiles of mood states improved considerably after single exercise sessions with a marked shift towards an iceberg profile.ConclusionAmong burnout patients, the findings provide preliminary evidence that exercise has the potential to reduce stress and prevent the development of a deeper depression. This has important health implications given that burnout is considered an antecedent of depressive disorders.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: ISRNCT01575743

Both Hair Cortisol Levels and Perceived Stress Predict Increased Symptoms of Depression: An Exploratory Study in Young Adults

Objective: Depressive symptoms are a common mental health problem among young adults, but the physiological mechanisms that mediate between stress and depressive symptoms remain unclear. Accordingly, this exploratory study (1) examined how hair cortisol concentrations were associated with self-perceived stress and depressive symptoms in a sample of young adults and (2) tested whether hair cortisol could explain variance in depressive symptoms beyond perceived stress before and after controlling for levels of vigorous physical activity (VPA). Methods: The sample consisted of 42 exercise and health science university students (20 males, 22 females; mean age = 21.2 years). Cortisol concentrations were extracted from hair strands close to the scalp. Participants completed self-rating questionnaires about depressive symptoms and perceived stress. Results: Students with elevated hair cortisol levels tended to report lower depressive symptoms and lower perceived stress. Increased perceived stress was associated with higher depressive symptoms, and both hair cortisol and perceived stress predicted depressive symptoms after controlling for VPA. Conclusions: The present data suggest that elevated hair cortisol levels do not necessarily constitute a health risk. Hair cortisol measurement can serve as a noninvasive and painless biomarker of chronic stress and mental disorders; however, additional research is needed.

The Relationship between Mental Toughness, Stress, and Burnout among Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study with Swiss Vocational Students

Past research has shown that higher stress is associated with increased burnout symptoms. The purpose of this study was to test whether mental toughness protects against symptoms of burnout and whether mental toughness moderates the relationship between perceived stress and burnout over time. Fifty-four vocational students (M age = 18.1 yr., SD = 1.2; 27 males, 27 females) completed self-report questionnaires twice, 10 mo. apart. Perceived stress, mental toughness, and burnout were measured using the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ), the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ), and the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM). Students who perceived higher stress and lower mental toughness scores reported higher burnout symptoms. Although no significant interaction effects were found between stress and mental toughness in the prediction of burnout, the graphical inspection of the interactions indicated that among students with high stress, those with high mental toughness remained below the cutoff for mild burnout, whereas an increase in burnout symptoms was observable among peers with low mental toughness.

Objectively assessed physical activity is associated with increased hair cortisol content in young adults

Abstract Assessing long-term cortisol secretion presents difficulties when cortisol measurement is carried out by saliva, plasma and urine analyses. Hair cortisol has gained increased interest as an alternative biological marker. So far, one study has been published studying hair cortisol in endurance athletes, showing higher levels compared to controls. Using accelerometer data in the present study, we cross-sectionally explored the relationship between moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) levels and hair cortisol concentrations after taking into account age, gender, and perceived stress. Hair specimens were collected from 46 university students (20 males, 26 females, Mage ± SD =21.2 ± 1.87 years). Participants provided information about their socio-demographic background and levels of perceived stress. Accelerometer data were collected to assess physical activity. Cortisol concentrations were measured in the first 3-cm hair segment nearest to the scalp. MPA was not correlated with hair cortisol content (r = −0.08). A significant correlation was found between VPA and hair cortisol (r = 0.34, p < 0.05). A regression analysis revealed that participants with higher VPA had elevated hair cortisol concentrations even after taking into account age, gender and perceived stress (β = 0.33, p < 0.05, ΔR2 = 0.106). This is the first study showing that objectively assessed VPA is associated with increased hair cortisol levels in young adults. As VPA can be regarded as a physical stressor, it seems imperative that researchers consider participants’ levels of VPA if they examine the relationship between stress exposure, hair cortisol and health.

The relationship between meeting vigorous physical activity recommendations and burnout symptoms among adolescents: an exploratory study with vocational students.

This study examines how students who met the current recommendations for vigorous physical activity (VPA) of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) differ from peers who did not reach these standards with regard to self-reported burnout, before and after controlling for light physical activity and moderate physical activity. A sample of 144 vocational students (Mage =16.2 years, SD = 1.13, 98 males) completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure, and the School Burnout Inventory. Bivariate correlations revealed that only VPA was associated with reduced burnout. Both the ACSM and CDC guidelines were useful to identify significant differences in burnout symptoms between students who met versus did not meet the standards. Health policy makers should develop strategies to integrate more VPA into the lives of adolescent students so as to reach a minimum of 60 min per week.

Longitudinal relationships between perceived stress, exercise self-regulation and exercise involvement among physically active adolescents

Abstract Stress exposure may undermine exercisers’ capability to self-regulate their exercise behaviour. This longitudinal study examined the interplay between perceived stress, exercise self-regulation (assessment of action and coping planning) and participation in vigorous exercise in vocational students. Moreover, this study examined whether high exercise self-regulation moderates the assumed negative relationship between stress and exercise. A sample of 580 physically active vocational students ( ± s 17.8 ± 1.3 years, 33.8% girls) was assessed. All participants completed two identical validated questionnaires assessing stress, exercise self-regulation and exercise with a span of 10 months in between survey completion periods. The cross-sectional analyses show that high exercise self-regulation attenuated the assumed negative relationship between stress and exercise. In the longitudinal analyses, however, only a non-significant trend was found. Significant longitudinal relationships existed between exercise self-regulation and exercise involvement. Latent difference score models revealed that a drop in the exercise self-regulation was associated with a concurrent decrease in exercise participation. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed that high exercise self-regulation levels positively predicted exercise behaviour, but an inverse relationship was not supported. The findings suggested that higher exercise self-regulation levels were positively associated with future exercise involvement in currently active adolescents. While partial support was found that exercise self-regulation moderated the influence of stress on exercise, the findings demonstrated that higher exercise self-regulation levels had a positive impact on future exercise involvement in already active individuals.

Psychometric Properties of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children in Italy: Testing the Validity among a General and Clinical Pediatric Population

The purpose of this research was to assess an Italian version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C-It). Three separate studies were conducted, whereby testing general psychometric properties, construct validity, concurrent validity and the factor structure of the PAQ-C-It among general and clinical pediatric population. Study 1 (n = 1170) examined the psychometric properties, internal consistency, factor structure (exploratory factor analysis, EFA) and construct validity with enjoyment perception during physical activity. Study 2 (n = 59) reported on reliability, construct validity with enjoyment and BMI, and on cross-sectional concurrent validity with objectively measured MVPA (tri-axial accelerometry) over the span of seven consecutive days. Study 3 (n = 58) examined the PAQ-C-It reliability, construct validity with BMI and VO2max as the objective measurement among a population of children with congenital heart defects (CHD). In study 2 and 3, the factor structure of the PAQ-C-It was then re-examined with an EFA. The PAQ-C-It showed acceptable to good reliability (alpha .70 to .83). Results on construct validity showed moderate but significant association with enjoyment perception (r = .30 and .36), with BMI (r = -.30 and -.79 for CHD simple form), and with the VO2max (r = .55 for CHD simple form). Significant concurrent validity with the objectively measured MVPA was reported (rho = .30, p < .05). Findings of the EFA suggested a two-factor structure for the PAQ-C-It, with items 2, 3, and 4 contributing little to the total score. This study supports the PAQ-C-It as an appropriate instrument to assess the MVPA levels of Italian children, including children with simple forms of CHD. Support is given to the possible instrument effectiveness on a large international perspective in order to level out data gathering across the globe.