Do Physical Activity and Personality Matter for Hair Cortisol Concentration and Self-Reported Stress in Pregnancy? A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study

Dagmara Budnik-Przybylska, Radosław Laskowski, Paulina Pawlicka, Paulina Anikiej-Wiczenbach, Ariadna Łada-Maśko, Anna Szumilewicz, Franciszek Makurat, Jacek Przybylski, Hideaki Soya and Maria Kaźmierczak
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Dagmara Budnik-Przybylska: Department of Sport Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Radosław Laskowski: Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport; 80-336 Gdańsk, Poland
Paulina Pawlicka: Department of Cross-Cultural Psychology and Psychology of Gender, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Paulina Anikiej-Wiczenbach: Psychological Counseling for Rare Genetic Diseases Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Ariadna Łada-Maśko: Department of Developmental Psychology and Psychopathology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Anna Szumilewicz: Department of Fitness, Faculty of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Franciszek Makurat: Department of Sport Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Jacek Przybylski: Department of Sport Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland
Hideaki Soya: Sports Neuroscience Division, Advanced Research Initiative for Human High Performance, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 305-8574 Tsukuba, Japan
Maria Kaźmierczak: Department of Family Studies and Quality of Life, Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, 80-309 Gdańsk, Poland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Physical activity reduces psychosocial stress in pregnant women. Stress levels might be self-reported (psychosocial) or measured with biomarkers, one of which is hair cortisol concentration (HCC). Additionally, personality has been associated with stress and physical activity. Methods: The first aim of our study was to explore the differences in self-reported stress assessed by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and in HCC with regard to physical activity level in pregnant (N = 29) and non-pregnant (N = 21) women. The second aim was to analyze the correlations among perceived stress, HCC, frequency of exercise and personality in the two groups separately. Results: There was a significant difference in frequency of exercise and self-reported stress between the two groups, with a lower level in pregnant women, but no differences in HCC and in personality were found. In the group of pregnant women, there was a significant negative correlation between HCC and frequency of exercise sessions, with the latter correlating positively with openness to experience. In the group of non-pregnant women, perceived stress negatively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability. HCC correlated negatively with conscientiousness. Conclusions: Our findings indicate the importance of physical activity programs dedicated to pregnant women for their life quality.

Keywords: pregnancy; stress; hair cortisol concentration; physical exercise; personality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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