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Sociodemographic and psychological parameters of adult’s commitment to exercise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

A. Zartaloudi*
Affiliation:
Nursing, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
D. Christopoulos
Affiliation:
Nursing, Psychiatric Hospital of Athens “Dafni”, Athens, Greece
M. Kelesi
Affiliation:
Nursing, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
O. Govina
Affiliation:
Nursing, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Motivation is an important indicator of predicting an adult’s commitment to exercise so it is important to explore the reasons that may lead a person to participate in physical activity programs.

Objectives

To investigate the socio-demographic and psychological parameters that motivate adults to participate in exercise programs and athletic activities.

Methods

245 adults, being engaged in physical activity programs were given a questionnaire to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, possible previous problems with body weight, type of exercise, frequency and main reason for their participation in exercise programs, as well as the somatometric characteristics of the participants.

Results

It is noteworthy that participants’ motive for exercise was pleasure (for 46.1% of the participants), championship (for 20.8% of the participants), health reasons (for 18.4% of the participants), weight loss (for 7.8% of the participants) and improvement of physical appearance (for 6.9% of the participants). A greater percentage of male compared to female participants were engaged to exercise due to championship reasons, while more women than men exercised to a statistically significant extent in order to improve their appearance and for health reasons.

Conclusions

Understanding the main factors that make individuals being engaged to physical activity may help health professionals to implement educational and counseling intervention programs regarding the positive effects of exercise on individuals’ mental and emotional health. Physical activity contributes to the improvement of their quality of life, which may be the most important issue for mental and public health.

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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