Exercise self-efficacy, enjoyment, and feeling states among adolescents

Knowledge of cognitions and feelings related to physical activity (PA) can assist in counseling adolescents to prevent the decrease in PA that occurs during this developmental period. This study, which involves a 2 (gender) 2 (race) 3 (developmental stage) design, examines relationships among PA self-efficacy (SE), enjoyment, and feeling states (FS) during PA and compares responses among 168 African American and European American boys and girls during early, middle, and late adolescence. More positive FS during a standardized PA episode on a treadmill predicts higher postactivity SE and greater enjoyment of the task. FS worsens as the session progresses, particularly for adolescents who in early puberty, report feeling significantly worse than those in both middle and late puberty at 16 minutes and 20 minutes. Findings suggest that nurses should assist adolescents to reduce negative feelings during activity to augment PA enjoyment, as well as SE following PA.