Levels of anxiety, depression, and stress among university students: analysis by sports practice and modality

Abstract

Objective: To compare levels of anxiety, depression, and stress in first-year Physical Education university students who practice different sports.

Method: This was an exploratory descriptive study involving young university adults aged 18 to 41. A questionnaire with demographic information and two questions about the frequency and intensity of current sports practice was used. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was also used, with the continuous mean for each symptom being analyzed. The different sports practices were grouped into team sports vs. individual sports. The Mann-Whitney U test was used, with a significance level of 5%.

Results: The sample consisted of 124 university students (36 women vs. 88 men), with a mean age of 21.1 ± 3.6 years. Of these, 61.3% reported practicing sports, and among them, the majority indicated practicing team sports (47.6%). The mean scores obtained for symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress among university students were 11.9 ± 9.8, 15.0 ± 11.6, and 17.5 ± 9.6, respectively. The mean for depression symptoms was significantly lower among those who practice sports compared to those who do not (13.1 vs. 17.9; p<0.05), and the mean for anxiety symptoms was significantly lower among those who practice team sports compared to those who practice individual sports (10.2 vs. 15.6; p<0.05).

Conclusion: that university students who practice sports showed lower symptoms of depression, while those who practice team sports showed lower symptoms of anxiety.