Running Head: EXERCISE AND ANXIETY STUDY

The Effects of Exercise on Anxiety Levels

Jenna Babcock, Rebecca Chavez, Chris Gutierrez, Austin Lepper, Kerielle Williams
Touro University Nevada

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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of exercising and how it correlates
to an individuals anxiety level. The participants were graduate students from a small private
medical university in Henderson, Nevada. Two surveys were given out to participants. The first
survey measured the frequency of exercise during a week as well as the types of exercise each
individual accomplished. The second survey was the nationally recognized Zung anxiety used to
measure anxiety levels. The results did not show a significant correlation between exercise and
anxiety levels.

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Results
The demographics of our sample size were a total of thirty one participants; eight males
and twenty three females. The recruiting of the participants was done at Touro University,
from the occupational therapy 2015 cohort. Everyone in the 2015 occupational therapy
cohort participated in the study except for the individuals conducting the study. Individuals
were recruited from this specific cohort because a waiver form was not needed in order to ask
these individuals to participate in the study.
All participants completed the study, which was completed in one day. In this study
participants completed a survey regarding the amount of exercise weekly in relation to their
self-reported level of anxiety. Each participant completed a total of two surveys, one for
their level of anxiety and the other on the amount of exercise engaged in over a one week
period. Exercise was defined as more than thirty minutes in a variety of types of physical
activity. Types of exercise included running or walking briskly enough to become out of
breath, taking an exercise class, lifting weights, participating in sports, and exercising at
home. It was hypothesized that the more an individual exercised, the lower their anxiety
levels would be.
The results indicated that the average score for all participants anxiety levels were higher
than the average score for all participants exercise levels. The mean for exercise per week
was 6.65 out of 20 and the mean for anxiety level was 33.58 out of 80. The standard
deviation for the exercise level was 3.2 and the standard deviation for the anxiety level was
4.88. Results of the data can be seen in Table 1 through Table 3.
Summary of Data Analysis

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The correlation between exercise and anxiety levels was not statistically significant, p
=.9532; meaning there was no significant correlation between exercise and anxiety levels.
Data analysis indicated that the amount of physical activity the participants engaged in per
week varied significantly. However, there was more variation in the range of anxiety level
scores.
The data indicated that there was no significant correlation between the amount a person
exercises and their anxiety levels. The participants were asked to answer whether they
engaged in a specific exercise, ranging from zero to more than three times a week. The
second survey was the Zung Anxiety survey, which participants were asked to choose the
anxiety level that related to them most accurately. Gender and race were not factors
attributed to this study. It was hypothesized that if participants exercised more than three
times per week, their anxiety level scores would be lower than their peers that exercised less
than three times per week. The data gathered did not support the hypothesis.
Discussion
The background literature that was reviewed showed a positive correlation between
exercise and anxiety levels. These studies showed that the more a person exercised the less
anxiety the person had. The purpose of our research study was to prove the same hypothesis
of exercise and the effects on anxiety levels. This quantitative study used a convenient
sample from the Touro University class of 2015 occupational therapy cohort. The data was
collected and analyzed using a Pearson correlation in conjunction with Microsoft Excel.
Limitations
Limitations of this study included a small sample size of only n=31. There was bias
introduced as data collection was limited to a single point in time. An additional limitation was

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that participants were involved in multiple convenient samples during our data collection. The
potential limitations of the research study were due in large part that there were only thirty one
participants who share similar interests and attend the same school and share common schedules.
The internal validity of our research included the independent variable, the exercise scale and the
dependent variable, the Zung anxiety level score. Limitations involved with this included the
range of exercise chosen and the amount of variability between the exercises. A limitation among
external validity was the use of only two surveys.
Future research should include more surveys over a longer period of time that could be
cross-referenced to produce more accurate findings. Other recommendations would be to have a
larger and more diverse pool of participants. Incorporating these recommendations could
support previous findings. The Zung anxiety survey did not have an option for not at all when
measuring participants data. This option would allow for individuals anxiety levels to be lower
when analyzing the data. In retrospect, using another nationally recognized anxiety level survey
such as Hamilton and Beck could have resulted in more statistically significant data.
Overall, current evidence does support use of exercise as an effective primary treatment
for anxiety. However, the positive effect of exercise was not proven in the current study.

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References
Salkind, N. J. (2012). Exploring research (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Zung, W. W. K. (1971). A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosomatics, 12, 371-379.

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Appendix A: Table 1
Individual data
50
45
40
35
30
25

Amt of exercise

20

Anx level

15
10
5
0
Participants

Note. This table reflects the amount of times a person exercised in a selected week long period.
As well as their self-reported level of anxiety during that same week.

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Appendix B: Table 2
Mean data
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Exercise

Anxiety

Note. This table reflects the mean number of anxiety and exercise for all of the participants in
the study. The mean number of exercise for a normal week was 6.65 out of with a
standard deviation of 3.2. The mean number for level of anxiety was 33.58 out of 80
with a standard deviation of 4.9.

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Appendix C: Table 3
Correlational data

Anxiety level

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0

10

12

14

Amount of exercise per week

Note. As shown by the scatterplot, there was no correlation between the amount of times a
person exercised a week and their anxiety level.

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