Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Ulm University, Germany.
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Austria.
Br J Health Psychol. 2019 May;24(2):315-333. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12355. Epub 2019 Jan 22.
Physical activity and healthy eating seem to be protective against experiencing stress and negative affect as well as increase positive affect. At the same time, previous studies showed that people reduce salutogenic behaviours such as physical activity and healthy eating in the face of stress and negative affect while increasing such behaviours in the context of positive affect. Due to daily fluctuations of these behaviours, the present study examined these relationships in daily life using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).
Fifty-one university students responded to six daily prompts during 7 days via smartphone-based EMA. Items examined stress, emotional experience, physical activity duration, and healthy eating.
Higher stress and negative affect, as well as lower positive affect, were related to a reduction in subsequent physical activity. Higher physical activity levels, in turn, were associated with less subsequent stress and negative affect, as well as more positive affect. No such effects for stress and affect on healthy eating or vice versa were found.
Engaging in physical activity is related to better mood and less stress/negative affect over the next several hours in daily life. Prevention efforts therefore may benefit by focusing on promoting physical activity, particularly when stress/negative affect is high to 'break the cycle' of inactivity, stress, and negative affect. Potential effects of healthy eating might be more subtle and characterized by interindividual differences or state effects. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Physical activity can reduce stress as well as negative emotions and can enhance positive emotions. People tend to eat less healthy food during stressful times, and healthy eating can increase general health. Physical activity and healthy eating have been mostly assessed separately and through retrospective methods. What does this study add? This is an EMA study investigating bidirectional effects of stress, emotions, and salutogenic behaviour. After physical activity, people felt less stressed/negative and more positive; feeling better and less stressed resulted in more physical activity. Healthy eating was not associated with stress or emotion level and vice versa.
体育活动和健康饮食似乎可以预防压力和负面情绪的产生，同时增加积极情绪。与此同时，先前的研究表明，当人们面临压力和负面情绪时，会减少体育活动和健康饮食等促进健康的行为，而在积极情绪的情况下则会增加这些行为。由于这些行为会出现日常波动，因此本研究使用生态瞬时评估（EMA）在日常生活中研究这些关系。
51 名大学生通过智能手机 EMA 在 7 天内对 6 个日常提示进行了响应。研究项目检查了压力、情绪体验、体育活动持续时间和健康饮食。
较高的压力和负面情绪以及较低的积极情绪与随后的体育活动减少有关。较高的体育活动水平反过来又与随后的压力和负面情绪减少以及积极情绪增加有关。但没有发现压力和情绪对健康饮食或反之亦然的影响。
在日常生活中，进行体育活动与下几个小时的更好情绪和较少压力/负面情绪有关。因此，预防措施可能会受益于专注于促进体育活动，特别是在压力/负面情绪较高时，以“打破不活动、压力和负面情绪的循环”。健康饮食的潜在影响可能更为微妙，其特点是个体差异或状态影响。
本研究的贡献是什么？
关于这个主题，目前已经有哪些已知信息？
体育活动可以减轻压力以及负面情绪，并可以增强积极情绪。人们在压力大的时候往往会少吃健康食品，而健康饮食可以促进整体健康。
体育活动和健康饮食的评估大多是分开进行的，且采用的是回顾性方法。
本研究增加了哪些新信息？
这是一项 EMA 研究，调查了压力、情绪和促进健康行为的双向影响。在进行体育活动后，人们感到压力/负面情绪减轻，积极情绪增加；感觉良好和压力减轻会导致更多的体育活动。健康饮食与压力或情绪水平没有关联，反之亦然。
