Correlates Of Exercise As A Coping Strategy For Stress

Exercise is associated with positive mental and physical well-being, and has also been shown to reduce stress. However, most studies use small convenience samples, often drawn from clinical populations, to examine the relationship between exercise, coping and health outcomes. Population-based, epidemiologic surveys, while based on representative, probability samples of the population, tend to focus on participation in exercise/physical activity, not on whether the behaviour is used as a coping device. As a result, our understanding of who uses exercise specifically as a coping strategy for stress in the general population is limited. Purpose To examine the demographic, behavioural, and health correlates of exercise as a coping strategy for stress in a national probability sample of Canadians. Method In this study, we use the Canadian Community Health Survey 1.2, a cross-sectional survey of 36, 984 Canadians ages 15 and over, from all 10 provinces of the country. Results Approximately 40% of Canadians reported using exercise as a way of coping with stress. In multivariate analyses, women (OR=1.34, 1.28–1.41), those who were single (OR=1.63, 1.50–1.72) and those who were previously married (OR=1.35, 1.25–1.46) were more likely than men and married individuals, respectively, to use exercise as a stress reliever. Younger adults are more likely than older adults to use exercise as a coping behaviour. Those with higher incomes (OR=1.08, 1.06–1.10) and educational attainment (OR=1.13, 1.11–1.14) were also more likely than others to report exercising to reduce stress. Current smokers (OR=0.73, 0.69–0.77), and illicit drug users (OR=0.89, 0.84–0.98) were less likely than others to exercise in response to stress, although regular drinkers were more likely to engage in this behaviour (OR=1.26, 1.20–1.32). Finally, individuals who had a history of one or more psychiatric disorders were more likely to report using exercise to cope with stress (OR=1.15, 1.07–1.20). Conclusions Understanding which segments of the population do, and do not, use exercise as a coping behaviour is important for health promotion planning at the population level. Our data suggest that male gender, low SES, older age and risky lifestyle behaviours are all associated with being less likely to use exercise as a coping strategy. These same groups also report high levels of perceived stress, and are at greater risk for physical and mental health related problems. Encouraging greater uptake of exercise in these sub-groups of the population may reduce overall stress levels and improve their general health and well-being.

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