Physical Fitness as a Predictor of Quality of Life and Stress Resilience in College Populations
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Abstract
Physical fitness may help college students maintain quality of life and cope with academic stress, yet the contribution of different fitness components to resilience remains unclear in campus populations. This study examined physical fitness as a predictor of quality of life and stress resilience in college men. We used a cross-sectional field design with 372 undergraduate men aged 18-25 years. Participants completed standardized assessments of cardiorespiratory fitness, handgrip strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body mass index, and waist-to-height ratio. We assessed quality of life across physical, psychological, social, and environmental domains, and measured stress resilience and perceived stress with validated questionnaires. We used descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlations, and multiple linear regression, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Students in the high-fitness group reported higher overall quality of life, stronger stress resilience, and lower perceived stress than students in the low- and moderate-fitness groups. The composite fitness score was positively correlated with overall quality of life (r = 0.49, p < 0.001) and stress resilience (r = 0.53, p < 0.001), and negatively correlated with perceived stress (r = -0.39, p < 0.001), composite fitness remained a significant predictor of overall quality of life (beta = 0.38), stress resilience (beta = 0.43), and perceived stress (beta = -0.31) after controlling for age, sleep duration, weekly physical activity, and body mass index. These findings suggest that fitness is meaningfully associated with psychosocial well-being in college men and should be considered in student health research.
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