Effects on Exercise & Meditation on Reported Stress and Cortisol in an Undergraduate Population

Stress is a daily factor that is directly correlated with negative physiological and psychological effects including stroke, heart attacks, and problem drinking.  A stressor that is perceived by the body activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis which causes the synthesis and release of the glucocorticoid hormone cortisol from the adrenal cortex.  Studies have shown meditation or exercise programs help decrease stress and cortisol levels but this has not been tested in college-aged adults. In this study, undergraduate students were assigned to either meditation, exercise or control groups for four weeks to measure the effects of introducing either meditation or increased exercise on reported stress and physiological response to stress in the form of salivary cortisol levels.  Participants’ stress was measured using the Revised Undergraduate Student Hassles Scale (RUSH-S) which measures a variety of stressors including academic, social, and personal hassles. Students completed the RUSH-S 3 times at baseline and at 2-week intervals. Simultaneously, saliva samples were collected to analyze salivary cortisol levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A one-way between subjects ANOVA was conducted to compare the effect of personal, academic and social stressors as measured by the RUSH-S. Both personal and social stressors for the meditation and exercise groups were reduced compared to the control (p=0.037 and p=0.052, respectively).  No significant reduction of academic stress was observed compared to the control. Cortisol levels tended to correlate with RUSH-S results. This study suggests that interventions such as meditation or exercise may be beneficial to reducing stress in undergraduate populations.