Habitually active individuals exercise more in the face of stress, and those in beginning stages exercise less. Several other factors may moderate stress and PA relationships, such as stages of change for exercise. This should not be surprising as some individuals utilize exercise to cope with stress. Interestingly, some prospective studies (18.2 %) report evidence that PA was positively impacted by stress (behavioral activation). 85.7 % of higher-quality prospective research (≥7 on a 9-point scale) showed the same trend. Studies examining older adults (>50 years), cohorts with both men and women, and larger sample sizes ( n > 100) were more likely to show an inverse association. a control time point) and (b) chronically stressed populations (e.g., caregivers, parents of children with a cancer diagnosis) that were less likely to be active than controls over time. This was true for research examining (a) PA at periods of objectively varying levels of stress (i.e., final examinations vs. Prospective studies investigating the effects of objective markers of stress nearly all agreed (six of seven studies) that stress has a negative effect on PA. Both objective (i.e., life events) and subjective (i.e., distress) measures of stress related to reduced PA. To more clearly address the question, prospective studies ( n = 55) were considered for further review, the majority of which indicated that psychological stress predicts less PA (behavioral inhibition) and/or exercise or more sedentary behavior (76.4 %). Studies varied widely in their theoretical orientation and included perceived stress, distress, life events, job strain, role strain, and work–family conflict but not lifetime cumulative adversity. The literature search found 168 studies that examined the influence of stress on PA.