Positive affektive Reaktionen in Sport und Bewegung durch allgemeine Kompetenzen und spezifische Verhaltenskompetenzen von Trainerinnen und Trainern

Investigating the relation between positive affective responses and exercise instigation habits in an affect-based intervention for exercise trainers: A longitudinal field study

The present study contains an affect-based intervention intended to support exercise trainers in positively influencing their course participants' affective responses to their exercise courses. We argue that positive affective responses are associated with habit formation, thereby being a promising approach for avoiding high drop-out rates in exercise courses. First, the present study aimed to investigate whether the intervention for exercise trainers could increase (a) affective attitudes, and (b) exercise instigation habit strength, and influence the development of (c) weekly measured affective responses and (d) automaticity among adult participants of exercise courses. Second, it examined the relationship between the development of affective responses and exercise instigation habit strength. Ten exercise trainers of weekly sports and exercise courses at a German university received either an affect-based intervention or a control intervention. 132 of their course participants answered the Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI; the automaticity sub-scale SRBAI was also analyzed) for exercise instigation habit strength and items to measure affective attitude in the initial and final assessment. Moreover, they were assessed for a duration of 10 weeks during which, each time after attending the course, they reported their affective response to exercise as well as their automaticity in arriving at the decision to exercise. In the repeated measures ANOVA, there was a significant main effect of time for exercise instigation habit strength. Overall, habit strength was higher in the final than in the initial assessment. However, there were no significant differences between the two conditions in all study variables. In the latent growth curve model, the trajectory of the latent growth curve of valence was a significant predictor of the final exercise instigation habit strength. While the applied affect-based intervention was not successful in enhancing positive affective responses to exercise, the results indicate that positive affective responses may contribute to strengthening exercise instigation habits. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of interventions in long-term study designs.

Examining the role of affective states in relation to exercise intentions and participation in extra-curricular exercise classes at university: A repeated measurement observational study

Background

Previous research has shown evidence on the role of affective states for physical activity behavior. However, there is a lack of research investigating the interplay between affective states, intentions, and exercise behavior, especially with respect to maintaining regular exercise over time. The study aimed to investigate whether post-exercise affective states and changes in affect during exercise (i) are related to exercise intentions; (ii) moderate the relationship between intention and subsequent exercise behavior, and (iii) directly predict future exercise.

Methods

Participants from weekly voluntary sports and gym classes at two universities were recruited. For 13 weeks, 268 individuals’ (M_age = 24.5 years, SD = 5.6, 90% students, 67.4% female) class attendance was documented on a weekly basis. Before and immediately after training, participants self-reported affective states, including affective valence (Feeling Scale) and perceived arousal (Felt Arousal Scale). Participants also reported their intention to re-attend the class the following week. Mixed-effect linear models and Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the relationships between affective states, change in affective states, re-attendance intentions, and class re-attention.

Results

Affective valence at the end of training was significantly positively associated with the intention to re-attend the class on the within-person level (β = 0.880, p < 0.001) as well as the between-person level (β = 0.831, p < 0.001), while higher increases of valence during class were related to smaller intention. For class re-attendance, significant effects of affective states were only found on the within-person level. A one-point increase on the valence scale increased the hazard ratio to re-attend by 8.4% (p < 0.05), but this effect was no longer meaningful after adjusting for intention. No moderation of the relationship between intention and subsequent class re-attendance was found.

Conclusion

The results suggest that positive affective state immediately after exercise does not facilitate translation of intentions into subsequent exercise behavior (i.e., do not close the intention-behavior gap). Rather, affective valence was found to be an important predictor of exercise intentions but seemed indirectly related to behavior via intentions. Practitioners should plan exercise programs that allow for positive affective states especially at the end of a training.

Reliability and Validity of the German Version of the Emotional Style Questionnaire

Until recently, emotional processes have played little role in personality psychology. Based on neuroscientific findings, Davidson and colleagues proposed a theory of emotional styles, postulating six dimensions of emotional life: outlook, resilience, social intuition, self-awareness, sensitivity to context, and attention. Recently, an English version of the Emotional Style Questionnaire (ESQ) was developed and tested for reliability and validity. The aim of the present work was to test the test-retest reliability, internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion validity of the German version of the ESQ. Two separate samples consisting of 365 and 344 subjects took part in an online survey. The results of the two studies indicated satisfactory test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Regarding the construct validity, the results from Study 1 to Study 2 indicate good model fit indices. Although there was a high correlation between the subscales outlook and resilience, the analyses supported the six-factor structure postulated by Davidson and colleagues. Substantial correlations were found between the dimensions of the ESQ and other validated scales, confirming the criterion validity of the questionnaire. Our results suggest that the German version of the ESQ is a reliable and valid measurement of emotional styles. It is a feasible and economical questionnaire that can be applied in various psychology disciplines, such as personality psychology, clinical psychology, industrial psychology or sport and exercise psychology.

(How) Does Affect Influence the Formation of Habits in Exercise?

Objectives: Habitually instigated exercise is thought to increase health behavior maintenance. Previous research has explored several aspects of habit formation. However, there is a lack of longitudinal research investigating affective determinants, especially post-exercise affective states. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate (a) if behavior frequency will enhance automaticity, (b) if positive affect will enhance automaticity, and (c) if positive affect will moderate the relationship between behavior frequency and automaticity. Methods: 226 participants (64% females, mean age 24 years) who attended weekly sports and gym classes at two universities were followed for 13 weeks. Class attendance was documented on a weekly basis (behavior frequency) during the semester. Before, during and immediately after each class, participants filled in the Feeling Scale (affective valence). Furthermore, at the beginning of each class, they answered a question about their automaticity in arriving at the decision to attend the class (instigation habit). We used a two-level modeling approach to predict subsequent automaticity by the different constructs at the previous attendance. Results: The cumulative frequency of prior class attendance did not significantly enhance the automaticity of the decision to re-attend the class. There were significant effects of valence on automaticity on the between-subject level, i.e., a one-point higher mean valence score was associated with a 0.62 point increase in automaticity (p = 0.001). No moderation effects of affect on the association between behavior frequency and automaticity were observed. Conclusion: Behavior repetition, albeit not significant, and positive affective states at the end of an exercise class may be beneficial in building exercise instigation habits. Practitioners and researchers alike may thus want to emphasize the importance of behavior repetition and affective response for health behavior maintenance.

Coach Competences to Induce Positive Affective Reactions in Sport and Exercise-A Qualitative Study

Positive affective reactions are a crucial aspect in physical activity maintenance. Affective reactions to sport and exercise were found to be important factors of physical activity. Coaches could be an important medium to induce positive affective reactions of participants in sport and exercise. Understanding how coaches trigger positive affective reactions (AR) during physical activity is a crucial aspect for increasing maintenance in sport and exercise. The aim of this study is to identify the competences of the coaches which are associated with perceived positive AR of participants during sport and exercise. To identify these factors, semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 participants, who take part in sport and exercise (nine female and nine male) of heterogeneous age (mean age 42.6; SD = 19.25; under 30 years, 30 to 60 years, 60 years and above) and who have different athletic backgrounds (individual sports, team sports, and gym classes). Four key coach competence factors were identified and used to design an integrated model. Three general competences: context sensitivity, social–emotional competences, professional competences, and the specific competences in the behaviour-related competences.