Influence of Aerobic Exercise on State and Trait Anxiety among Working Women

Abstract

Exercise is a beneficial and efficent way to improve one's health status. Numerous studies have looked at both the physiological health benefits of physical exercise, however, studies that examine the relationship between exercise and psychological health, specifically on anxiety, report ambiguous findings. This paper, a qualitative study, diminishes the ambiguity by explaining the relationship between earobic exercise, trait anxiety, and state anxiety. Four (4) female participants engaged in an aerobics exercise class in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, they were all employes women working within the town. The participants ranged from 25 to 55 years of age, with an average age of 40. It was found that trait anxiety moderated the effect aerobic exercise had on a woman's state anxiety level following aerobic exercise. Women with a higher level of trait anxiety reportes a lower level of state anxiety following exercise when they participated in more hours of arobic exercise per week. On the other hand, aerobic exercise had little effect on state anxiety levels in women with low trait anxiety levels.