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Sports participation at work: An aid to stress management?

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International Journal of Stress Management

Abstract

This study examined the effects of sport participation on mood, including stress, arousal, and psychological reversals. The subjects (N = 42) of the study were enrolled in an international MBA program which included, in addition to a range of academic courses, a course in physical education for which attendance was voluntary. Subjects, 26 sport participants and 16 nonparticipants, completed mood measures on five occasions throughout a typical working day, including just before and just after a sport session. Significant differences on some mood measure items and a number of pre- to post-sport significant effects (seriousmindedness and stress) were found between the sport and non-sport group, as well as reversals in psychological state. These results suggest that sport may well act as a modulator of mood and/or an inducing agent for reversal and therefore may play an important role in stress management intervention programs at work.

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Kerr, J.H., Vlaswinkel, E.H. Sports participation at work: An aid to stress management?. Int J Stress Manage 2, 87–96 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01566164

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