The Effect of Four-Week Exercise-Based Stress Management Program in Relieving the Academic Stress of Sedentary Female BS Computer Science Students

Abstract

This research examines the impact of exercise-based stress management on sedentary female BSCS students at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. The study has three primary goals: (a) to assess the participants' academic stress levels prior to the intervention; (b) to measure their academic stress levels after the intervention; and (c) to evaluate the significant difference between the post-test results. The research involved six female participants studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, using the Perception of Academic Stress (PAS) Scale (Bedewy & Gabriel, 2015). Before participating in the exercise program, the participants completed the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q). The intervention, approved by Waehner (2024), included two face-to-face training sessions, each lasting 60 minutes, along with a 30-minute active rest day per week, spanning over four weeks. Results showed that before the intervention, the control group’s academic stress was rated M=3.04 ("Neutral"), while the experimental group had a slightly lower rating at M=2.8 ("Neutral"). After the intervention, the control group’s academic stress increased to M=3.35 ("Neutral"), while the experimental group reported a decrease, with a stress level of M=3.61 ("Disagree"). There was no significant difference between the post-test results of the groups. In conclusion, the intervention did not show a statistically significant effect; however, the experimental group exhibited noticeably lower academic stress than the control group, particularly in areas such as unrealistic expectations from teachers and parents, struggling to catch up after falling behind, and intense peer competition for grades.