Inactivity May Matter More Than Activity: Associations with Perceived Stress in a Cross-Sectional Study in Healthy Adults

Physical activity is generally associated with better psychological well-being, yet the role of sedentary behavior as a distinct contributor to perceived stress remains insufficiently understood. This study aimed to examine the associations of total physical activity and sedentary behavior with perceived stress and its components in a cross-sectional sample. A total of 40 adults (24 females) participated in the study. Perceived stress was assessed using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), including total score and subcomponents of helplessness and self-efficacy. Physical activity and sedentary behavior were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between physical activity indicators and perceived stress outcomes, adjusting for sex and age. Sedentary behavior was positively associated with total perceived stress (B = 0.35, 95% CI [0.08, 0.62], p = .018) and perceived helplessness (B = 0.41 [0.14, 0.68], p = .005), but not with self-efficacy (B = −0.01 [−0.34, 0.32], p = .941). Total physical activity was not significantly associated with any perceived stress outcome (all p ≥ .556), suggesting that sitting time, rather than overall activity volume, was more consistently related to perceived stress. Sedentary behavior appears to be more strongly related to perceived stress than total physical activity. Interventions targeting stress regulation may benefit from focusing not only on increasing physical activity but also on reducing prolonged sitting.