Short- and longer-term psychological and behavioral effects of exergaming and traditional aerobic training: A randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to compare short- and longer-term psychological and behavioral effects of the exergaming (EX-GAME) and traditional group aerobic training (TRAD) on psychological constructs and physical activity adherence. Young adults (n = 55; 18–24 yrs) were randomized to the EX-GAME and TRAD (active control group) training regimens which had identical exercise volume (3/w, 50 min for 6w). The results indicated that EX-GAME was more effective in improving short- and longer-term autonomy satisfaction (F[1, 41] = 6.12, p = .020, η_p² = .12) and intrinsic motivation (F[1, 41] = 7.31, p = .009, η_p² = .19), but TRAD resulted in greater exercise exertion (t[41] = 5.03, p < .001, d = 1.51), enjoyment (F[1, 41] = 6.27, p = .018, η_p² = .13), and relatedness (F[1, 41] = 4.56, p = .032, η_p² = .10). TRAD had showed a larger long-term effect on identified regulation (F[1, 41] = 5.10, p = .029, η_p² = .11). The results indicated that autonomy is a key agent for a longer-term change, contributing to the positive development of intrinsic motivation (R² = .45), identified regulation (R² = .27), and reducing amotivation (R² = .10). It is noteworthy that interventions did not have longer-term effects on physical activity. The study identified subtle differences between these two training modalities in changing intervention outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Active video gaming
• physical activity
• self-determination
• motivation

Data availability

Data available on request from the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University of Georgia: [Grant Number 10-21-RX064-685].