Association between Physical Activity, Emotional Intelligence, and academic stress among undergraduate physiotherapy students: A cross-sectional study
This cross-sectional study of 484 Indian undergraduate physiotherapy students reveals that while both physical activity and emotional intelligence are independently associated with lower academic stress, emotional intelligence does not mediate the relationship between physical activity and stress, suggesting they function as distinct yet complementary strategies for enhancing student well-being.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
University life is a familiar landscape of deadlines, exams, and the constant pressure to perform. For students training to become healthcare professionals, this pressure is often amplified by the need to master complex medical knowledge while simultaneously learning to care for real patients. In this high-stakes environment, academic stress is a common companion, manifesting as anxiety or a heavy sense of burden. Researchers have long known that two specific factors can influence how a person handles this pressure: the amount of physical movement they get during the day and their ability to understand and manage their own emotions. Physical activity is simply the movement of the body, from walking to sports, which is known to improve mood and reduce tension. Emotional intelligence is the skill of recognizing feelings in oneself and others, and using that awareness to guide thoughts and actions. While it is clear that both exercise and emotional skills matter, it has remained unclear how they work together, or if one helps the other, to protect students from the weight of their studies.
A team of researchers set out to map these connections among undergraduate physiotherapy students in India. They gathered a large group of 484 students, aged 18 to 25, from a private college. These young adults were asked to fill out three different surveys. One measured how much physical activity they engaged in each week. Another assessed their emotional intelligence, asking them to rate their ability to handle feelings. The third survey gauged the level of stress they felt specifically related to their academic work. The researchers then looked for patterns in the answers, checking if students who moved more also reported better emotional skills, and if those with better emotional skills felt less stressed by their schoolwork. They also tested a specific idea: whether the stress-reducing power of exercise worked by first improving emotional intelligence.
The results painted a clear picture of the student body. Most of the students were quite active, with the vast majority engaging in moderate to high levels of physical movement. Their emotional intelligence scores were generally moderate, and their reported academic stress levels were mostly low to moderate. When the researchers compared the numbers, they found a small but real link between physical activity and emotional intelligence; students who moved more tended to have slightly better emotional skills. They also found that physical activity was linked to slightly lower stress levels. However, the strongest connection was found between emotional intelligence and stress. Students who scored higher on emotional intelligence reported significantly lower levels of academic stress, even when the researchers accounted for their age, gender, and how much they exercised.
The study then tested the hypothesis that exercise reduces stress by first boosting emotional intelligence. The data showed that while exercise did improve emotional intelligence, and emotional intelligence did reduce stress, the path from exercise to stress did not flow through emotional intelligence in the way the researchers had hoped. In other words, the benefit of exercise on stress did not depend on making students more emotionally intelligent. Instead, the findings suggest that physical activity and emotional intelligence act as two separate, though helpful, shields against academic pressure. One does not simply fuel the other to create a single effect; rather, they operate through their own distinct mechanisms to support a student's well-being.
This distinction is important for how universities might support their students. The research indicates that while encouraging students to stay active is valuable, it is not a substitute for helping them develop emotional skills. The ability to recognize and regulate emotions appears to be a direct and powerful tool for managing the unique demands of physiotherapy education. The study concludes that schools should view the promotion of physical activity and the development of emotional intelligence as complementary strategies. By offering programs that build both the body and the mind's ability to handle feelings, institutions can provide a more complete foundation for student success. The study was limited to a single college and relied on students' own reports, so the findings describe a specific group at one moment in time, but they offer a clear direction for understanding how different aspects of a student's life interact to shape their stress levels.
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