Objective:
To determine if student athletes (SA) report higher rates of perceived stress (PS) than non-athletes (NA) and to further the examine the relationship between reported perceived stress scores, eating competence, and perceived weight status.
Methods:
Data (n=2560) were collected between 2015-20 from the College Health Assessment Survey, an on-going, cross-sectional study conducted at a public, New England university. Participants completed the Eating Competence Satter Inventory (ecSI), Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and self-reported perceived weight status via online questionnaire. Eating competence was defined as scores ≥ 32 while PSS scores were categorized into low (<13), medium (13-20), and high stress (> 20). Group differences were analyzed using ANCOVA using age and gender as covariates. Relationship between continuous variables was assessed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient.
Results:
Of the final sample, 16% (n=408) of students reported playing a sport; 38% of SA reported low stress, 38% reported medium stress, and 24% reported high stress. SA did not report statistically significant higher PSS scores vs. NA (16.0±6.9 vs. 16.6±6.6, P = 0.16). A negative correlation was found among the SA who completed both the PSS and the ecSI (n=393, r= -0.32, P <0.001). Only in SA who perceived themselves as overweight was there a significant correlation among PSS and ecSI scores (n=67, r= -0.30, P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest SA do not appear to experience higher rates of reported PS compared to their NA counterparts. An association between the ecSI and PSS scores was observed among SAs who perceived themselves as overweight. Understanding the relationship between these factors can help tailor wellness and nutrition education to better college SAs’ health.
Funding Source: The NH Agriculture Experiment Station and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Project 1010738.
