Process evaluation and proximal impact of an affect-based exercise intervention among adolescents

Area of Science:

• Exercise Science
• Adolescent Health
• Behavioral Psychology

Background:

• Adolescents often have negative affective experiences during Physical Education (PE).
• Interventions are needed to improve engagement and enjoyment in physical activity among youth.
• Understanding affective responses to exercise is crucial for promoting lifelong physical activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the implementation and immediate impact of an affect-based intervention on adolescents' affective experience during PE.
• To determine if the intervention influenced exercise intensity in a controlled "feels-good" task.
• To explore changes in exercise intensity among adolescents with initial negative affective responses to exercise.

Main Methods:

• Randomly assigned 74 healthy adolescents to an affect-based or traditional exercise program.
• Utilized intervention logs, observations, and interviews to assess implementation fidelity.
• Measured participants' self-selected exercise intensity during a 30-minute "feels-good" task before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

• The intervention was successfully implemented, and participants enjoyed the study.
• No significant impact on overall exercise intensity during PE or the "feels-good" task was observed.
• Adolescents initially reporting negative affective responses showed increased self-selected intensity over time.

Conclusions:

• The affect-based intervention may have been too subtle to alter behavior significantly beyond a high-quality PE program.
• Reluctant exercisers might increase exercise intensity when combining quality PE with heart rate monitoring.
• Further research is needed to optimize interventions for enhancing adolescent affective responses to exercise.