This study examined the attitudes toward physical activity and
exercise of university students enrolled in Personal Wellness classes.
1, 625 undergraduate students completed the Attitudes Toward Exercise
and Physical Activity (ATEPA) inventory on the first and last day of the
class. Paired-samples t test results comparing the mean pretest ATEPA
score to the mean posttest score revealed a significant improvement,
([bar.t](1624) = 2.91, [bar.p] < .01). A repeated measures
multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) also revealed significant
between-subjects effects for gender, [bar.F](1, 1579) = 30.23, [bar.p]
< .01, and exercise history, [bar.F](2, 1579) = 35.16, [bar.p] <
.01. Results suggest that students showed a significant improvement in
attitude toward physical activity and exercise following completion of
the university-required personal wellness course. Both exercise history
and gender appeared to have influenced these effects.
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Physical inactivity is a major health concern in the United States.
While nearly 70% of 12-year olds reported engaging in vigorous physical
activity on a regular basis, only 35% of 21-year olds maintained this
level (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2000). Research
examining this phenomenon has identified several contributing factors.
One of the key determinants is attitude (Dzewaltowski, 1994; Noland
& Feldman, 1984). Studies have shown that persons with positive
attitudes toward physical activity generally exercise more frequently
and more intensely than individuals with less positive attitudes (Ennis,
1996; McPherson et al., 1967; Portman, 1995).
Though the development of attitudes begins at an early age, many
adult behaviors are established during late adolescence (Dishman &
Dunn, 1988). Furthermore, because attitudes are not a fixed attribute,
they can be changed (Silverman & Subramaniam, 1999). For example, a
prolonged positive experience may move the individual toward a more
positive attitude. This belief has led many universities to include a
physical education or personal wellness requirement with the goal of
developing skills and attitudes necessary for implementing positive
health-related decisions. However, the effectiveness of these programs
to exhibit changes in short-term attitudes has not been sufficiently
demonstrated.
Mowatt, DePauw, and Hulac (1988) examined the attitudes of 564
students enrolled in elective activity courses. Pre and post tests were
administered to experimental classes receiving mini-lecture materials
and to control groups. Few significant differences were found on any of
the questions. Matthys and Lantz (1998) assessed the pre and post
attitudes of 156 university students enrolled in a required eight week
activity class. No significant differences were found. In a study of 89
Brazilian college females, Nahas (1992) randomly assigned low-fit
subjects to two experimental groups and a control group. Post test
scores found significant differences in attitude toward physical
activity between the experimental group receiving six 50-minute lectures
and the control group. Finally, Twellman, Biggs, and Lantz (2000)
investigated 103 students' attitudes before and after completion of
a semester long health education course consisting of two days of
lecture and three days of activity per week. Results revealed
significant improvements in attitude toward exercise. In summary, it
appears that research examining short-term attitudes has been
inconclusive. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to further
investigate the short-term attitudes toward physical activity and
exercise of students enrolled in university-required personal wellness
courses.
Methods
Participants
1,995 undergraduate students enrolled in university-required
personal wellness courses volunteered for this study. Due to incomplete
data, the number of students who dropped the course after the first
week, being absent the first or last day of class, or providing
incorrect ID numbers; 1,625 participants (81.5%) completed both the
pretest and posttest. Thus, the present sample is based on these 1,625
students. Of these, 63.3% (n = 1,028) were female while 36.7% were male
(n = 597). 16.7% of the participants were first year students, 37.3%
were second year, 28.3% were third, 17.0% were fourth, and 0.6% were in
their fifth year of college.
Instrumentation
Attitudes toward physical activity and exercise were assessed using
the Attitudes Toward Exercise and Physical Activity (ATEPA) inventory
(McPherson & Yuhasz, 1968). This inventory consists of 50 statements
scored using a 5-point Likert-type scale. Participants are asked to
indicate whether they agree or disagree (strongly agree, agree, neutral,
disagree, strongly disagree) with each statement concerning their
feelings, beliefs, and actions. Sample questions include: "I think
exercise is good for me"; "Exercise helps to work off
emotional tensions and anxieties"; and "Exercising with a
group leads to improved social relationships." The score on each
item is summed resulting in scores ranging from 50 to 250. Higher scores
indicate a more positive attitude toward exercise and physical activity.
Reported reliability coefficients for the attitude inventory have
ranged from .81 to .95 and the inventory successfully discriminated
between criterion groups presumed to have favorable and unfavorable
attitudes toward exercise and physical activity (McPherson & Yuhasz,
1968). The inventory has also been used to reveal significant
differences between experienced exercisers and sedentary adults
(McPherson et al., 1967) as well as changes in attitudes following
participation in a required college health education course (Twellman,
Biggs, & Lantz, 2000).
Procedures
Following approval of the Human Subjects Review Board, students
enrolled in university-required personal wellness courses were asked to
complete the ATEPA and provide demographic information during the first
day of class. Demographic information included their sex, year in
school, and exercise history. Exercise history choices were Inactive (no
regular physical activity with a sit-down job), Light (no organized
physical activity leisure time with 3 or 4 hours of walking or standing
per day), Moderate (sporadically involved in recreational activities
such as weekend golf, tennis, cycling), Heavy (consistent job activities
of lifting or stair climbing or participating regularly in
recreational/fitness activities such as jogging, cycling at least 3
times/week for 30-60 min./session) or Vigorous (participation in
extensive physical activity for 60 plus minutes 4x/week). During the
last day of classes at the end of the semester, students were again
asked to complete the ATEPA.
The personal wellness course consists of two days of lecture each
week for the entire semester plus a first and second-half semester
activity. Lecture components include decision making, exercise theory,
nutrition, contemporary threats, and stress management. One of the
activities is predominantly aerobic exercise-based while the other lab
primarily skill-based. Students are required to attend the activity part
of the class for the entire semester with most activities meeting twice
a week for 75 minutes each time. Aerobic exercise activity options
included aqua aerobics, circuit aerobics/weights, swim conditioning,
aerobic and aerobic combo exercise, biking, aerobic cross training,
power-walking/jogging, and cardio-kick boxing. Skill activities
available to be selected included badminton, dance, karate, racquetball,
rock climbing, volleyball, weight lifting, table tennis, capoeira,
canoeing, skin and scuba diving, backpacking, golf, tennis,
mind/body/fitness, yoga/pilates, tai chi, outdoor adventure, ice
climbing, and jui jitsu.
Results
Descriptive data for pre- and posttest ATEPA scores can be found in
Table 1 for the entire sample by gender, exercise history, and year in
school. Paired-samples t test results comparing the mean pretest ATEPA
score to the mean posttest score revealed a significant improvement,
([bar.t](1624) = 2.91, [bar.p] < .01). The 95% confidence interval
for the mean difference was .65 to 3.31. In other words, most students
increased their ATEPA scores by .65 to 3.31 points. Separate
paired-samples t tests were also performed to compare pretest scores to
posttest scores for the groups identified in Table 1. Results indicated
significant differences for females ([bar.t](1027) = 3.81, [bar.p] <
.01), inactive exercise history ([bar.t](28) = 3.47, [bar.p] < .01),
light exercise history ([bar.t](260) = 2.86, [bar.p] < .01), third
year students ([bar.t](459) = 2.62, [bar.p] < .01), and fourth year
students ([bar.t](276) = 2.63, [bar.p] < .01). None of the other
differences were significant, p > .05.
In an attempt to examine possible effects of gender, exercise
history, and year in school, additional follow-up analyses were
performed. Because of the relatively small number of subjects in three
of the categories, some of the groupings were combined. This resulted in
three exercise history levels (inactive/light, moderate, and
heavy/vigorous) and four classifications for year in school (first,
second, third, and fourth+). To determine whether these factors
influenced students attitudes toward physical activity and exercise, a
repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was
conducted. Gender, exercise history, and year in school served as the
independent variables while the pre and posttest ATEPA scores served as
dependent variables.
Tests of overall between-subjects effects were significant for
gender, [F.bar](1, 1579) = 30.23, [p.bar] < .01, and exercise
history, [F.bar](2, 1579) = 35.16, [p.bar] < .01. No significant
differences were found for the main effects of year in school,
[F.bar](3, 1579) =. 19, [p.bar] > .05. Likewise, none of the
between-subject interaction effects or within-subject effects were
significant, [p.bar] > .05.
Separate follow-up t tests were conducted to determine whether
there were any pre- or posttest differences on ATEPA scores by gender.
"Levene's Test of Equality of Variances" for pretest
scores indicated that the variances between samples were equal. Equal
variance results revealed significant differences, [t.bar](1623) = 3.84,
[p.bar] < .01. Similarly, Levene's test indicated equal
variances for posttest results with significant t test differences
between females and males, [t.bar](1623) = 4.68, [p.bar] < .01. As
shown in Table 1, females had significantly higher pre- and posttest
scores than did males.
A follow-up repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA)
examining differences in prescore means by exercise history was
significant, [F.bar](2, 1602) = 50.65, [p.bar] < .01. Tukey HSD
post-hoc test revealed differences between inactive/light and moderate
([M.bar] = 185.69 & 192.18, respectively), inactive/light and
heavy/vigorous ([M.bar] = 185.69 & 198.42, respectively), and
moderate and heavy/vigorous ([M.bar] = 192.18 & 198.42,
respectively). A repeated measures ANOVA examining postscore differences
was also significant, [F.bar](2, 1602) = 13.14, [p.bar] < .01. Tukey
HSD post-hoc test revealed differences between inactive/light and
heavy/vigorous ([M.bar] = 191.36 & 199.52, respectively), and
moderate and heavy/vigorous ([M.bar] = 193.10 & 199.52,
respectively).
Discussion
Results from the present study show a significant improvement in
short-term attitudes toward exercise and physical activity after
completing a university-required personal wellness course. Participating
in and studying the benefits of exercise over the course of a semester
appears to have improved students' attitudes. Positive pre and post
test differences were reported for 11 of the 12 sub-groups with 5 of the
12 being statistically significant. These findings provide support for
the belief that a personal wellness requirement may positively influence
attitudes necessary for implementing positive health-related decisions.
Follow-up analyses may have also revealed a number of influential
variables. First, exercise history had a significant effect regarding
students' attitudes toward exercise and physical activity on both
pre and post tests. Furthermore, students indicating that they did not
participate in any regular physical activity displayed an average
improvement in attitude of almost 9%. Students having a light exercise
history also showed significant improvements. These findings support
those of Nahas (1992) and take on added importance if one agrees with
his suggestion that it is perhaps more important, from a public health
perspective, to motivate those who are inactive than those who are
already moderately active or above.
Another variable which had a significant effect on attitudes toward
physical activity was gender. Females had higher pre and post test
scores than did males, and also displayed significant improvements over
the semester. Conversely, attitudes of the males did not change. Reasons
for this are unknown. Perhaps it reflects the attitudes they had toward
the university-required personal wellness course. Females may have taken
the course and instructors more seriously while males were indifferent.
Another possible explanation is that though MANOVA interaction effects
were not statistically significant, a higher percentage of females had
inactive/light exercise histories than did males. Specifically, 21.5% of
females reported an inactive/light exercise history, 47.8% moderate, and
30.7% heavy/vigorous. In contrast, only 12.1% of males classified
themselves as inactive/light while 49.7% were heavy/vigorous. A final
explanation could be that males were more inclined to use the post test
to express their displeasure with the required class than females. A
cursory examination of the post minus pretest difference scores shows
that 5.3% of females had differences of -27 or more (26.9 was the
overall [SD.bar]) in contrast to 10.1% of males. Almost twice as many
males had negative differences larger than one standard deviation as did
females which may have affected the results.
The final variable that may have had an effect was the
students' year in school. While MANOVA results for the main effect
were nonsignificant, t tests revealed significant improvements for only
third and fourth year students. It is interesting to note that upper
class students had significantly improved attitudes while freshmen and
sophomores did not. This may reflect a more serious attitude toward the
importance of physical activity or may simply be a by-product of a more
scholarly approach to their studies in general.
Though encouraging, this study is not without limitations. First,
the quantitative measurement of attitude is always dependent on the
validity and reliability of the instrument (Silverman & Subramaniam,
1999) and the honesty of the participants. Thus, replication using
additional measures of attitude is necessary. Second, the effects of the
different instructors and types of physical activity options needs to be
investigated. For example, researchers should examine possible
instructor effects such as younger vs. older, male vs. female,
traditional teaching style vs. nontraditional, and student acceptance of
the instructor. Future researchers should also explore whether or not
the student was able to get their first or second choice of activity and
whether it would be helpful to group students by exercise history to
more adequately challenge the previously active individuals. Finally,
there may have been a ceiling effect in this particular group of
students. Participants in this study had fairly positive pretest
attitudes (193 on a scale from 50 to 250) that may have effected the
outcome.
In summary, students in this study showed a significant improvement
in attitude toward physical activity and exercise following completion
of the university-required personal wellness course. Both exercise
history and gender appeared to have influenced these effects. However,
follow-up research is needed to further delineate these and other
potential variables that may influence attitudes necessary to increase
health-related physical activity.
References
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Table 1
Descriptive statistics for ATEPA scores by gender, exercise history,
and year in school
Pretest Posttest
Mean SD Mean SD n
Total 193.17 * 19.00 195.14 * 26.91 1625
Sex
Female 194.54 * 16.60 197.51 * 25.02 1028
Male 190.80 22.36 191.07 29.47 597
Exercise History
Inactive 181.48 * 21.41 197.28 * 19.39 29
Light 186.15 * 17.84 190.70 * 26.48 261
Moderate 192.18 18.00 193.10 26.11 710
Heavy 197.06 17.95 198.94 26.66 467
Vigorous 203.07 19.10 201.51 30.62 136
Year in School
First 193.58 17.27 194.72 26.60 272
Second 194.78 17.59 195.28 27.96 606
Third 192.80 * 19.41 195.93 * 26.00 460
Fourth 189.73 * 22.46 193.83 * 25.97 277
Fifth 195.60 10.99 198.00 39.64 10
* Significantly different at p < .01.