The relationship between physical activity, stress, and resilience in sexual and gender minority college students

Abstract

Objective

To assess the role of sexual orientation and gender identity in the relationship between physical activity (PA), stress and resilience.

Participants

A nationally-representative sample of students (n = 91,718) from United States postsecondary institutions.

Methods

Students reported aerobic and strength training (ST) behaviors, stress, resilience, gender identity and sexual orientation. Moderated regressions examined the influence of gender identity and sexual orientation on the relationship between PA and stress or resilience.

Results

Men and heterosexual students reported higher PA and resilience and lower stress than did women, gender minorities, and sexual minorities. Significant moderation was found for women, queer students, bisexual students, trans women and lesbians in the various models.

Conclusions

Gender minority and sexual minority students display poorer levels of PA and mental health than cisgender and heterosexual counterparts, but this relationship varies by identity group.

Keywords:

• Minority stress
• sexual and gender minority (SGM)
• university

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the US and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the lead author’s institution.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.