Does physical activity have an impact on academic stress and perceived stress? And is there a difference between male and female students and their levels of perceived and academic stress?

The first hypothesis of this study is to investigate if different levels of physical activity (PA) will impact the levels of academic stress (AS) and perceived stress (PS) in college students. The second hypothesis is to investigate if there is difference between males and females and their perceived stress and academic stress levels. A total of 80 students, of an age ranged from 18 to 31 years (M=22.26 years) were recruited through social media platforms (e.g., Facebook). Three questionnaires were used to assess PS, AS, and PA levels. For the first hypothesis two separate between groups ANOVAs were conducted. For the second hypothesis two separate independent samples t-tests were run. There was no statistically significant difference in levels of PS for the three PA groups, F (2, 77) = 2.20, p = .117. However, there was a small statistical significant difference in AS levels for the three PA groups, F (2, 77) = 7.19, p = .001. There was no significant difference between genders and their levels of PS and AS. This study had limitations such as small sample size and a bias towards low and moderate PA groups. This study was conducted to get a clearer understanding of the student population, as little research is conducted on this population