Trial reportEuropean journal of applied physiology2016
Does a 20-week aerobic exercise training programme increase our capabilities to buffer real-life stressors? A randomized, controlled trial using ambulatory assessment.
Trial report in European journal of applied physiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of physical activity interventions in improving higher education students' mental health: A systematic review.Health promotion international · 2024Pooled it
- Use of Electronic Ecological Momentary Assessment Methodologies in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep Research in Young Adults: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Does Exercise Training Improve Cardiac-Parasympathetic Nervous System Activity in Sedentary People? A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- Does Cardiorespiratory Fitness Predict the Physiological and Psychological Stress Response to a Mathematics Exam in Secondary High School Students?European journal of sport science · 2026Article
- Effects of a year-long aerobic exercise intervention on neuroendocrine, autonomic, and neural correlates of stress, emotion, and cardiovascular disease risk in midlife adults.Journal of sport and health science · 2026Article
- Stress buffering effects of physical activity in adolescents: the moderating role of physical activity attitudes.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Association between different types of physical activity and occupational stress in Japanese workers: a cross-sectional study.Industrial health · 2024Article
- Combined associations of regular exercise and work-related moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with occupational stress responses: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- The Effect of Physical Activity on Sleep Quality Among Chinese College Students: The Chain Mediating Role of Stress and Smartphone Addiction During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
- Investigating associations between physical activity, stress experience, and affective wellbeing during an examination period using experience sampling and accelerometry.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Mechanism and implications of pro-nature physical activity in antagonizing psychological stress: the key role of microbial-gut-brain axis.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Review
- The impact of adolescents' health motivation on the relationship among mental stress, physical exercise, and stress symptoms during COVID-19: A dual moderation model.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Chinese college students COVID-19 phobia and negative moods: Moderating effects of physical exercise behavior.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Can Physical Exercise Help Deal With the COVID-19 Stressors? Comparing Somatic and Psychological Responses.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability and Emotion-Driven Impulse Control Difficulties During Adolescence: Examining Experienced and Expressed Negative Emotion as Moderators.The Journal of early adolescence · 2021Article
- App-Tailoring Requirements to Increase Stress Management Competencies Within Families: Cross-sectional Survey Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- Direct and Stress-Buffering Effects of COVID-19-Related Changes in Exercise Activity on the Well-Being of German Sport Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Stress and mindfulness in Parkinson's disease - a survey in 5000 patients.NPJ Parkinson's disease · 2021Article
- Testing the cross-stressor hypothesis under real-world conditions: exercise as a moderator of the association between momentary anxiety and cardiovascular responses.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis suggests that regular exercise leads to adaptations in the stress response systems that induce decreased physiological responses to psychological stressors. Even though an exercise intervention to buffer the detrimental effects of psychological stressors on health might be of utmost importance, empirical evidence is mixed. This may be explained by the use of cross-sectional designs and non-personally relevant stressors. Using a randomized controlled trial, we hypothesized that a 20-week aerobic exercise training does reduce physiological stress responses to psychological real-life stressors in sedentary students.
methodsSixty-one students were randomized to either a control group or an exercise training group. The academic examination period (end of the semester) served as a real-life stressor. We used ambulatory assessment methods to assess physiological stress reactivity of the autonomic nervous system (heart rate variability: LF/HF, RMSSD), physical activity and perceived stress during 2 days of everyday life and multilevel models for data analyses. Aerobic capacity (VO2max) was assessed pre- and post-intervention via cardiopulmonary exercise testing to analyze the effectiveness of the intervention.
resultsDuring real-life stressors, the exercise training group showed significantly reduced LF/HF (β = -0.15, t = -2.59, p = .01) and increased RMSSD (β = 0.15, t = 2.34, p = .02) compared to the control group.
conclusionsUsing a randomized controlled trial and a real-life stressor, we could show that exercise appears to be a useful preventive strategy to buffer the effects of stress on the autonomic nervous system, which might result into detrimental health outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.