Stress in Young People Aged 18-28 Participating and Not Participants of Virtual Physical-Recreational Programs

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) constitutes a global public health emergency situation, which can cause emotional imbalance in society. The increase in stress levels is a probable assumption during the pandemic, for which it is useful to establish physical-recreational strategies to negative effects mitigate, being necessary base studies to support a sustainable treatment choice. Objective: To identify the perceived stress level in young residents of the Quito city, including the effects of a virtual physical-recreational program in reducing the stress level. Methods: Descriptive-explanatory research of a correlational order, studying perceived stress in 382 subjects (18-28 years, both genders), and implementing a virtual physical-recreational program in 12 subjects, assessing the effects on perceived stress at two moments. Results: A mean perceived stress of 19 points is obtained, with ≈14.66% of the subjects with high stress for the current pandemic process, the stress levels being higher in the female gender (p=0.018). On the other hand, the virtual physical-recreational program generated positive effects in reducing perceived stress, being significant in post-test favor (k=0.04). Conclusions: The research shows tolerable stress levels in the majority of the representative sample studied, with subjects with high perceived stress, who require specialized preventive intervention. Positive effects on perceived stress are evidenced in the 12 subjects undergoing an intervention process with virtual physical-recreational activities, requiring further studies to generalize results.