Subjective psychological experiences in leisure and competitive swimming

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ characteristics in the two groups.

	Leisure swimmers	Competitive swimmers
Men, women (n)^a	15, 12	19, 8
Age, mean years (±SD)^b	54.11 (18.25)	19.89 (2.01)
Age (range)	22–86	18–25
Swimming history years (±SD)^a	21.48 (23.06)	14.11 (3.19)
Swimming history (range)	1–74	8–21

^aNo statistical difference was found between two groups (p > .05).

^bA statistically significant difference was found between the two groups (p < .001), therefore age was used as a covariate in the main analysis.

Figure 1. Changes in four dependent measures from before to after swimming in leisure swimmers (dotted line) and competitive swimmers (continuous line). The Y axes represent the means on a relative scale. For statistically significant differences between- and within groups refer to Table 3.

Table 2. Results of the mixed model univariate repeated measures ANOVA tests reflecting the group by time interactions in four dependent measures.

Dependent measures	F	df	p	Effect size ${\eta }_p^2$	Observed power (1−β)
Positive affect	9.32	1, 49	=.004	.160	0.85
Negative affect	6.77	1, 49	=.012	.121	0.72
Core affect: mental well-being	16.29	1, 49	<.001	.250	0.98
Core affect: physical well-being	10.59	1, 49	=.002	.178	0.89

Table 3. Bonferroni corrected (α = .05/16 tests = .003125 new adjusted alpha) independent and dependent t-tests comparing between- and within group means at two times of assessment.

Dependent measures	t	df	p	Effect size (Cohen’s d)^a
Between groups comparisons (leisure vs. competitive swimmers)
Positive affect before swim	−3.83	52	<.001	−1.04
Negative affect before swim	0.47	52	=.963	NS^b
Mental well-being before swim	−0.286	52	=.776	NS
Physical well-being before swim	−0.942	52	=.350	NS
Positive affect after swim	0.479	52	=.634	NS
Negative affect after swim	−3.02	52	=.004^c	NS
Mental well-being after swim	4.15	52	<.001	0.95
Physical well-being after swim	4.37	52	<.001	0.90
Within groups comparisons (pre-post-tests)
Positive affect leisure swimmers	−4.32	26	<.001	−0.83
Negative affect leisure swimmers	3.62	26	=.001	1.06
Mental well-being leisure swimmers	−5.15	26	<.001	−1.07
Physical well-being leisure swimmers	−6.97	26	<.001	−1.34
Positive affect competitive swimmers	2.27	26	=.076	NS
Negative affect competitive swimmers	0.787	26	=.438	NS
Mental well-being competitive swimmers	0.223	26	=.825	NS
Physical well-being competitive swimmers	1.58	26	= 128	NS

^aIn case of the paired, or dependent, t-tests (lower half of the table) it was corrected for the dependence between the means by using Morris and DeShon's (2002) equation No. 8.

^bNS = Not Significant

^cAlthough p = .004 would normally be statistically significant, the Bonferroni-method corrected new alpha (α) was lower .003 and, thus, at conservative level the statistical significance could not be established.

Table 4. Correlation values (Pearson r) between relative changes scores ((post-measure − pre-measure)/pre-measure)) indicated as delta (%Δ) in four dependent measures and personal satisfaction with the completed swimming session in leisure- and competitive swimmers.

Dependent measures	Leisure swimmers	Competitive swimmers
	Satisfaction with the swim	Satisfaction with the swim
%Δ Positive affect	.14 (NS)	.34 (NS)
%Δ Negative affect	.31 (NS)	−.42 (p = .03)
%Δ Core affect: mental well-being	.24 NS)	.18 (NS)
%Δ Core affect: physical well-being	.01 (NS)	.41 (p = .03)

Note: NS = Not significant.

Figure 2. Presence or absence of control in the various aspects of swimming in leisure- and competitive swimmers. Items served by two arrows show that control may or may not be present.

Morris, S. B., and R. P. DeShon. 2002. “Combining Effect Size Estimates in Meta-Analysis with Repeated Measures and Independent-Groups Designs.” Psychological Methods 7 (1): 105–125. doi:10.1037/1082-989x.7.1.105.

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