TITLE:
Enjoyment during Exercise Mediates the Effects of an Intervention on Exercise Adherence
AUTHORS:
Darko Jekauc
KEYWORDS:
Adherence, Affective States, Physical Activity, Enjoyment
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
15,
2015
ABSTRACT: Regular
participation in physical activity is associated with a variety of health
benefits and a reduction in diverse chronic diseases. However, empirical
studies have shown that about 50% of the participants in exercise programs drop
out during the first six months. One strategy to increase regular physical
activity would be to promote positive feelings during exercise. The purposes of
this experimental study were a) to investigate whether the affective states can
be influenced by specific interventions and b) to link these changes in
affective states to exercise adherence. The trainers of the experimental group
were instructed to promote positive emotions (e.g. pleasure and fun) during
exercise according to specific principles. The trainers of the control group
were instructed to comply with the recommendations of the American College of
Sports Medicine. 24 participants in the experimental group and 17 participants
in the control group were recruited for this study. The results of the repeated
measures analyses of variance provide a significant time by group interaction
suggesting that participants of the intervention group increased their
affective ratings significantly compared to the control group. The results of
the hierarchical regression analyses support the hypothesis that the changes in
affective ratings related to exercise mediated the effects of intervention on
physical activity adherence. This study provides evidence that affective states
during exercise can be systematically influenced to increase physical activity
adherence. Principles on how to increase positive affective judgments related
to exercising can be drawn from this study and eventually be used in order to
promote regular physical activity among a large part of the population.