The Intersection of Personality Dimensions with Stress Relief Strategies in Adolescence: An Experimental Study

Stress is becoming more prevalent among adolescents and negatively impacts their health and development. It is, therefore, pivotal to increase our knowledge about potential (personalized) healthy stress relief strategies for adolescents. This study investigated individual personality differences (i.e., behavioral inhibition versus behavioral activation) in adolescents’ preference for, and the effectiveness of, physical or mental exercise to relieve stress. A sample of 208 adolescents (12 to 18 years) were recruited during a science and education student festival in the Netherlands. For ethical reasons, no personally identifiable information could be collected. Surveys were used to assess personality and preferences at baseline and subjective stress at baseline, after stress induction with the Sing-a-Song Stress Test, and after stress relief through physical or mental exercise. The results from multivariate regression analyses indicate that personality did not significantly influence adolescents’ preference for, or benefit from, physical or mental exercise for stress relief. Both types of exercise significantly reduced experienced stress, but the effect was stronger when adolescents performed their activity of choice. The findings suggest that pre- and intervention efforts for adolescents’ stress-related health problems are better directed at offering a range of effective free-choice stress relief activities than on personalized stress-relief methods.