Stretching exercises accompanied or not with music, reduce the stress level of pre-college student

Abstract

In Brazil, many students take preparatory courses for entrance exams at university. However, these tests can be a stressful event, because their realization usually coincides with a phase of students’ lives when they are still finding out and structuring their identity. Considering that stress is a prevalent syndrome in young people, especially those in the admission phase in college, there is a need to evaluate the influence of strategies aiming to reduce the stress in this population. Thus, we investigate the effects of a single bout muscle stretching exercise, listening to music and stretching exercise accompanied by music sessions on the number of stress symptoms in students from preparatory schools for the university admission exams (UAE). Two hundred fifty students were evaluated using Lipp´s Inventory of Stress Symptoms for adults (ISSL). This instrument was standardized for the Brazilian population, and allows to evaluate the level of stress and determine the number of stress symptoms of an individual. Volunteers responded the ISSL before and after one of the experimental situations (30 minutes): SA (active and static stretching exercise), SM (listening to a New Age music), SAM (SA and SM combined) and control situation (SC). It was verified that 55.2% of the volunteers were stressed. The Kruskal-Wallis test observed significant differences (H=13.63; p< 0.01) between SA and SAM situations compared to SC in stressed students (n=138). It was observed significant reduction for physical and psychological symptoms in SA and SAM. It was concluded that static and active stretching exercises can be used before exams to reduce stress symptoms.