title: 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 ([Formula: see text] ± 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.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sport, Exercise and Health , University of Basel , Basel , Switzerland.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindwall
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brand
authors.forename: Christin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Elliot
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pühse
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D032763:Behavior Control; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D005082:Physical Exertion; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: action planning; coping planning; exercise self-regulation; implementation intentions; stress