Linking movement and stress amongst Year 12 female students

BY ALEXANDRA WHITTINGHAM, YEAR 12, 2021

ABSTRACT

This paper reveals the relationship between stress and movement in order to discover if a Year 12 female student is experiencing stress through simple observations. It was determined that there is a strong positive correlation between a female Year 12 student’s stress score and their percentage of body movement in five minutes. This notion was founded in the study of the 22 participating students who sat a perceived stress questionnaire. Their subconscious body movements were then observed in order to determine if there was a relationship between the two variables. It was founded that the higher the level of stress experienced by the female students, the larger their stress score, therefore, presenting more subconscious body movement when being asked to sit down. The data collected was converted into a correlation table producing an overall R-value of 0.872153824 which is close to 1 confirming a strong positive relationship between the two variables, the stress score and the percentage of body movement. This conclusion is important as chronic stress experienced in early life can lead to students developing health issues in the future. Understanding the strong relationship between stress and movement gives one the skills to determine if a peer or stranger is experiencing high levels of stress, allowing for intervention before their levels reach a critical or detrimental point.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Stress is an integral part of human lives, positive or negative, it can ultimately impact one’s ability to perform. Neuroendocrinologist Bruce McEwen states that “Stress is a word used to describe experiences that are challenging emotionally and physiologically” (McEwen, 2007) and is a prominent emotion in one’s everyday life. Stress is made up of many forms and generally falls into one of three categories: Acute stress, a short-term stress often associated with moments of panic and dread like overdue assignments, job interviews or having financial problems (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2021b). Episodic acute stress, an accumulation of individual moments of acute stress often experienced by people who take on more responsibility and projects than they can handle (Fry & Dimitriu, 2021). Chronic stress is a prolonged and constant feeling of stress accounted by multiple factors, including poverty, abuse, and trauma (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2021b).

Following stress reactants is then a recovery process, where the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis is in charge of regulating body hormones in response to stressful situations (Smith & Vale, 2006). The Hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to signal the adrenal glands to produce steroid hormones glucocorticoids, made up of cortisol and adrenaline (Smith & Vale, 2006). This added cortisol regulated by HPA releases the feeling of being hyper-alert during stressful situations. Scientist Chiang proposed that school is a main source of stress among adolescents, from homework, unsatisfactory academic performance, and preparation for tests (Chiang, 1995). These stress reactants among students are a major problem in higher education, as the triggers result in cortisol levels spiking in bloodstreams. Although most students cortisol levels will drop back to normal over a couple of days, for others it may stay elevated as they remain fixated on the setback and have difficulty moving forward. These high cortisol levels increase blood sugar, metabolism, memory function and can provide a temporary boost in cognitive ability, assisting student motivation and decision-making skills allowing one to achieve their goals (Terada, 2018). However, when cortisol levels remain too high they can impair brain functioning, supress the immune system and result in long-term damage, such as rewiring the brain to become overly reactive or too slow to react to threats (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2021a). Therefore, continual stress can disrupt the normal brain development through childhood and increase the risk of disease in adulthood (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2014).

These experiences of raised levels of academic-related stress elevate the risk of young people developing physical health problems as they mature. For example, some students who experience stress during examination periods are less likely to be physically active. This contributes to future non-communicable diseases including but not limited to obesity, reduced insulin sensitivity, and metabolic syndrome, resulting from unhealthy lifestyle habits and stress system dysregulation (Stults-Kolehmainen & Sinha, 2014). During these examination periods, high stress levels are nearly twice as common in females, 41.3 per cent, than in males, 21.8 per cent (Pieh et al., 2021) and overall 83.2 per cent of students feel that stress has impacted their ability to study and enjoy school (Headspace, 2017). Academic-related stress contributes to the development of current and future health issues, including discontent within schools and the education system.

Stress also internally affects people, resulting in symptoms and characteristics which can be identified by one’s community as stress. For instance, stress can affect the bodies cardiovascular system as the body goes into ‘fight or flight’ mode in response to stressful situations, causing one’s heart rate and blood pressure to spike (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2021c). This results in increased contractions on the heart muscles, pumping blood around the body at a faster rate with a higher pressure, provide the body with a burst of energy so that it can respond to perceived dangers (Harvard Medical School, 2020). There is then an increase in breathing rate, and the extra oxygen is sent to the brain, increasing alertness, sight, hearing and sharpening other senses, preparing the body to either fight or flee from the danger at hand (Harvard Medical School, 2020). Moreover, stress also affects the musculoskeletal system as dilating blood vessels in the arms and legs cause muscles to tense up in order to protect you body from potential pain or harm (McEwen, 2007). This persistent muscle tension can turn into migraine headaches, body pain and overall discomfort, leading to an uncontrollable urge to move to subside the tension (McEwen, 2007).

Therefore, it is expected that one will be able to determine if someone is stressed based on their observation of the victim performing these subconscious body movement to subside the tension. If so then teachers, parents and peers will be able to observe the subtle signs of early stress allowing them to intervene before stress levels reach a critical or detrimental point.

HSC Extension Science

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH QUESTION

How does the amount of subconscious body movement correlate with stress scores for Year 12 female students?

HYPOTHESIS

There is a strong positive correlation between a female Year 12 student’s stress score and their percentage of body movement in five minutes. It is predicted that as female students experience more stress, they will increase their stress score and, therefore, present more subconscious body movements. Girls not experiencing as much stress, by comparison, will receive a smaller stress score and present little to no subconscious body movements.

METHODOLOGY

To test the proposed hypothesis, quantitative data was collected primarily given that secondary data did not exist. In order to achieve this, the study was first presented to the school’s Ethics Committee for approval, ensuring every female student had full autonomy, confidentiality and were not exposed during the process. This included preparing an information sheet and consent letter for parents to read and sign. The study was also conducted as a blind study to prevent potential bias from personal friendships and protect the students’ anonymity. Year 12 female student groups were then randomly chosen by a teacher, replacing their names with a number. Thus, this teacher was able to ensure the psychology of students post results if stress scores were considered too high.

On the day of the study, the girls who decided to take part were asked to meet in a classroom, in the Year 12 building, and sit silently on their numbered chair. At the back of the room were three volunteers who filmed the back of the labelled chairs, neck down of the students, to be replayed later in order to calculate movement. After five minutes of silent sitting, students were then asked to take a ‘Perceived Stress Questionnaire’ (PSQ), based on the questionnaire designed by the Medical Centre at the University of Pennsylvania. Adjustments were made to the questionnaire as the Ethics Committee requested personal questions be simplified to reduce the chance of triggers. Respondents indicated on a scale from 1 “almost never” to 4 “usually” how frequently they experienced certain stress-related feelings throughout Year 12. After the questionnaires were handed back anonymously, with student assigned numbers labelled on top, papers were scanned, and calculated to form a PSQ index (stress score). This was calculated by adding up the total score

of the questionnaire then subtracting 30 (lowest possible score) and dividing the result by 90 (highest possible score (120) – lowest possible score (30)), yielding a score between 0 and 1.

Scores ranging from 0.0≤x<0.1 would be considered low stress.

Scores ranging from 0.1≤x<0.6 would be considered moderate stress.

Scores ranging from 0.6≤x≤1.0 would be considered high stress.

Movement observation was then calculated by watching the videos and timing how long, in seconds, the students moved within the five minutes. Movement involved foot tapping, body re-arrangement, swinging legs, arms and neck. After the PSQ result was assigned to the matching seconds of body movement, the percentage of timed movement was determined. This was calculated as a fraction over 300 (five minutes is 300 seconds).

This study was then repeated in two groups, with nine students followed by 13 students. The data collected was placed within a table for a correlation test to take place on Excel. A correlation is a statistical measure describing the size and direction of a relationship between two or more variables. This correlation (R) coefficient will then fall in between -1 and 1. The closer R is to 1, the stronger and more positive the correlation is. If R is closer to -1, a negative correlation can be determined.

RESULTS

Figure 1

Graphical representation of results in Table 4. Shows the correlation between the student’s Stress Score and their percentage of movement in 5 minutes. The Stress Scores ranging from 0 ≤x<0.1 would be considered low stress, 0.1≤x<0.6 would be considered moderate stress and 0.6≤x≤1.0 would be considered high stress. The blue dot (0.47, 5.67) is a possible outlier compared to the orange dots. Which is proven as the orange linear line of best fit (without outlier) produces an R-value of 0.90 whereas on the blue linear line of best fit (with outlier) the R-value is 0.83. Table 1

Stress Range Percentage of movement in five minutes

Stress Range 1 Percentage of movement in five minutes 0.9000155 1

Correlation table of results from Table 4, Group 1, without the outlier (0.47, 5.67) R=0.9000155 is close to 1 and therefore there is a strong positive correlation between Stress Score and Percentage of Movement in five minutes.

Figure 2

Graphical representation of results in Table 5. Shows the correlation between the student’s Stress Score and their percentage of movement in five minutes. The Stress Scores ranging from 0 ≤x<0.1 would be considered low stress, 0.1≤x<0.6 would be considered moderate stress and 0.6≤x≤1.0 would be considered high stress. The blue dots (0.26, 8.67) and (0.81, 53.67) are possible outliers compared to the orange dots. Which is proven as the orange linear line of best fit (without outlier) produces an R-value of 0.98 whereas on the blue linear line of best fit (with outlier) the R-value is 0.92.

Table 2

Stress Range Percentage of movement in five minutes

Stress Range 1 Percentage of movement in five minutes 0.985821 1

Correlation table of results from Table 5, Group 2, without the outliers (0.26, 8.67) and (0.81, 53.67). R=0.985821 is close to 1 and therefore there is a strong positive correlation between Stress Score and Percentage of Movement in five minutes.

HSC Extension Science

Figure 3

Graphical representation of results in Table 4 and 5 combining both Group 1 and Group 2, without the 3 outliers (0.47, 5.67), (0.26, 8.67) and (0.81, 53.67). Shows the correlation between the student’s stress score and their percentage of movement in 5 minutes. The Stress Scores ranging from 0 ≤x<0.1 would be considered low stress, 0.1≤x<0.6 would be considered moderate stress and 0.6≤x≤1.0 would be considered high stress. The blue dots and line of best fit showcase group 1 results with an R-value of 0.90. The orange dots and line of best fit showcase group 2 results with an R-value of 0.98. Finally, the grey line of best fit, includes both group 1 and group 2’s results with an overall R-value of 0.87.

Table 3

Stress Range Percentage of movement in five minutes

Stress Range 1 Percentage of movement in five minutes 0.872153824 1

Correlation table of results from Table 4 and Table 5 combining both Group 1 and Group 2, without the 3 outliers (0.47, 5.67), (0.26, 8.67) and (0.81, 53.67. Overall R=0.872153824 which is close to 1 and therefore there is a strong positive correlation between Stress Score and Percentage of Movement in five minutes

DISCUSSION

The data collected alongside its analysis supports the hypothesis that there is a strong positive correlation and relationship between a female Year 12 students stress score and their percentage of body movement in five minutes. This was demonstrated in both study groups’ results as the female students who experienced more stress had a larger stress score and higher percentage of subconscious body movement. In contrast, girls who were not experiencing as much stress received a smaller stress score and presented little to no percentage of subconscious body movement.

This notion was proven in Study 1 with group 1 as the results showed a positive relationship between stress and body movement. This trend is shown in Figure 1 where both lines of best fit are linear, despite the blue line including the outlier (0.47, 5.67) illustrating that when the stress score increases so does the percentage of movement in five minutes. This relationship is further proven in the correlation Table 1 as the R-value is 0.9000155, without the outlier, which is close to 1, meaning there is a strong positive correlation between stress score and percentage of movement. Group 2 follows the same trend as Group 1. This is seen in Figure 2 which highlights two linear lines of best fit, with the blue line including the outliers (0.26, 8.67) and (0.81, 53.67), determining a proportional relationship between the stress score and percentage of movement in five minutes. This is even further pronounced in the correlation of Table 2 where the R-value is closer to 1, R=0.985821, confirming a strong positive correlation between these two variables. Group 2’s R-value is larger than group 1’s R-value by 0.0858055, which could be due to the timing of when each groups study took place.

Group 1’s study took place before an English exam, which was compulsory for the whole year group, therefore all girls would be experiencing a base level of stress in the environment. Whereas Group 2’s study took place in the middle of the term, after the English exam, meaning there was not a base level of stress and instead students faced their own personal internal or external factors of stress. This could have led to a bigger variation in stress levels across the students in Group 2, allowing a larger range of stress levels to be analysed, which could account for the larger R-value received in Group 2. Despite the difference in R-values, both datasets granted a total R-value of 0.872153824, as seen in the correlation Table 3, which is close to 1 confirming a strong positive correlation between these two variables. This trend is also continued in Figure 3 as the graph demonstrates through the grey linear line of best fit, that there is still a proportional relationship between the stress score and percentage of movement in five minutes for both Groups 1 and 2 when combined. This verifies the hypothesis that there is a strong positive correlation between a female Year 12 students stress score and their percentage of body movement in five minutes.

The results suggest that there is a relationship between stress and movement which may be due to the body’s internal response to stress reactants. Students may feel stress from homework, unsatisfactory academic performance, preparation for tests or non-school related stress like at home life.

These stress reactants trigger the hypothalamus to release adrenocorticotropic hormones (ACTH) from the pituitary glands, signalling the adrenal glands to produce large volumes of cortisol and adrenaline hormones (Smith & Vale, 2006). Adrenaline puts the bodies cardiovascular system into ‘fight or flight’ mode, spiking heart rate and blood pressure (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2021c). The effect on the musculoskeletal system is blood vessels dilate and pump blood at a faster speed to aid the increase of the heart rate (McEwen, 2007). This leads to more tense muscles and with persistent muscle tension one will fell an overall discomfort, causing a subconscious urge to move the body relieving tension and pain (McEwen, 2007). Results from Groups 1 and 2 showed that an increase in stress in female Year 12 students, ultimately increased their percentage of movement.

Whilst the methodology allowed for an in-depth analysis of the relationship between stress and movement, ultimately it had its limitations. For instance, on top of the timing at which each study was conducted, the Year 12 female students selected were chosen through their pastoral care groups rather than individually, reducing the ‘chosen at random’ element. Despite this, it should not significantly influence the data collected as the groupings were not based on academics, social grouping or subject choices. Moreover, as seen in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3, 100 per cent of the students in the study had a stress score above 0.1, meaning they had moderate to high levels of stress. Nobody within the two studies presented a stress score from 0 ≤x<0.1, which would be considered low stress. Therefore, this dataset cannot prove that people with low stress would follow the trend of moving less, compared to people with moderate to high levels of stress. To improve this an increase of test groups and studies would be needed to validate the methodology and create a more reliable conclusion.

Overall, the methodology and collected data has allowed for the hypothesis to be accepted. In order to grant a more accurate conclusion, students should have been interviewed after the test to receive qualitative data, which would provide a richer understanding as to how stressed the students may feel as well as to understand why there were three students who were outliers. These three students should be asked to join the study again in the future to see if they are consistently outliers or were just outliers in the first study. The future direction for this study involves repeating this methodology with more Year 12 female students, from a broader population across Sydney or globally. With collection of repeated data, more consistent results and conclusions on the correlation of stress and movement would be achieved. This is extremely important for the future of the education system, as there will be a clear indicator to how educators and peers could identify stressed individuals. Thus, bystanders could intervene, helping someone that shows the signs of subconscious body movement, before their stress levels reach a critical or detrimental point.

CONCLUSION

In this study it has been concluded that there is a strong positive correlation between a female Year 12 student’s stress score and their percentage of body movement. Female students who experience stress, gained a larger stress score and therefore their percentage of movement increased. This was determined from the methodology as Year 12 female students were required to sit silently for five minutes, while their movements were monitored, calculated as a percentage, and then reflected on a stress questionnaire, allocating a stress score. The study was repeated with different groups granting a total R value of 0.872153824 which is close to 1 and therefore there is a strong positive correlation between the two variables, stress score and percentage of body movement. The conclusion is important as chronic stress experienced in early life can lead to students developing health issues in the future. In conclusion, a strong relationship between stress and subconscious body movement enables one to determine when a peer or stranger is experiencing high levels of stress, allowing intervention before stress levels reach a critical or detrimental point.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Maya Hu

1. Where did the inspiration for your work come from?

My research essay on the history of chopsticks was part of a Big History assessment, with the first part of the task done in a group. The inspiration came from our everyday lives, as the usage of chopsticks is an essential part of our lives as Chinese, and it is incontrovertible that much history is behind the development of chopsticks. At first, we had several options of items of research and write about, however, after a bit more research on chopsticks, we immediately became keen on writing about it. The thought of exploring the history of something that we use every single day heartened us and drove us deeper into research. We were absolutely fascinated by everything that we found, and I am particularly proud of this research essay which explores the Chinese culture and its links with the development of chopsticks.

2. What was the most memorable thing learned from researching your topic/project?

The most memorable thing that I learned from researching the history of chopsticks is how the invention and usage of one small thing created interactions between people from around the community and civilisation. This reminded me of the power of communication and collective learning, something that we continuously explored in the Big History course.

3. What challenges did you come across in your research?

The biggest challenge that my team and I came across in our research process was the overwhelming yet limited information available on the internet. It was overwhelming in a way as there were so many different sources, limited in a way as most of these sources stated the same, shallow and, sometimes even generalised, information. I believe that this challenge is highly common in the 21st century due to the rapid development of the internet and the lack of care in the management of information on the internet.

4. How did you overcome the challenges?

Luckily, all three of us in the team can read Chinese, hence, we were able to gather information from sources that were written by Chinese authors, whom we believed were more credible since chopsticks were first invented in Ancient China. Furthermore, after garnering large amounts of information, we were able to decide on certain areas to focus on and dwelled into them, paying more attention to unique and useful information.

5. Research is….

Research is the process of questioning, exploring, discovering, analysing, critically thinking and, finally, producing. Every step is as important as any other, and with all these combined, research is such a wonderful process that inspires meaningful thoughts and enlightens learning minds.