Autonomic Profile, Physical Activity Level, Anxiety, and Psychosocial Perceptions Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

This observational, cross-sectional study described resting cardiac autonomic modulation indices, habitual physical activity, anxiety, and psychosocial perceptions among university students, with unadjusted comparisons by sex and exploratory physical activity groupings. The sample comprised 243 students (140 men and 103 women). Sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, author-developed psychosocial items, the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and resting heart rate variability (HRV) indices were assessed. Welch’s t-test, chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, and Welch’s ANOVA were used as appropriate. The five Brazilian IPAQ categories were analytically pooled as sedentary, irregularly active, and active/very active; this grouping was not considered equivalent to the international three-level IPAQ scoring algorithm. Women more frequently endorsed anxious behavior or appearance and reported greater context-specific psycho-academic strain. State- and trait-anxiety scores did not differ significantly by sex. Women had higher RMSSD, pNN50, HF, and SD1 values and a lower LF/HF ratio in resting recordings. No statistically significant differences were detected across the exploratory physical activity groupings for sitting time, anxiety, or the examined HRV indices. These results indicate distinct group-level patterns across contextual perceptions, overall anxiety scores, and resting cardiac indices, without establishing individual-level associations, equivalence, or diagnostic utility.