Mentálhigiéné és Pszichoszomatika
Volume/Issue:
Volume 24: Issue 1
Acute mental benefits of aquatic exercises in middle-aged women
Authors:
Krisztina Ábel Institute of Health Promotion and Sport Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

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Fruzsina Somlai Institute of Health Promotion and Sport Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

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Attila Szabo Institute of Health Promotion and Sport Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2788-4304
Pages:
75–81
Online Publication Date:
19 May 2023
Publication Date:
19 May 2023
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/0406.2023.00007
Keywords:
aquafitness; swimming; water sports; mood; women;
Keywords (Hungarian):
aquafitnessz; úszás; vízisportok; hangulat; nők;
Open access

ABSTRACT

Background and aims: Aquatic exercises are popular leisure activities worldwide, primarily among women. These activities are especially beneficial for aging people and individuals having difficulties performing land-based exercises. Their physical health benefits have already been documented in the academic literature, but research on their mental health effects is still non-existent. However, leisure exercises promoting mental health are advantageous in a fast-paced and often stressful world. Therefore, in this in-situ (natural life setting) field study, we examined the acute mental benefits of aquatic exercises in 30 voluntary consenting women having a mean age of 57.57 (SD = 12.67) years. Methods: Using a within-participants research design, the subjectively perceived feeling states and felt arousal, along with positive and negative affect, were recorded before and after exercise. Moreover, the personal expectancies regarding the expected feelings after exercise were assessed before the workout to determine the influence of anticipation effects. Results: The findings revealed that core affect and positive affect improved substantially from before to after exercise (p < .001), as confirmed by the large effect sizes (Cohen’s d > 0.80). Negative affect decreased nonsignificantly (p = .062), but it was already low before exercise. Although expectancy scores were high before the exercise class, they did not correlate (p > .05) with the dependent measures’ magnitude of changes (pre-class – post-class scores). Conclusions: These findings suggest that women who participate in an aquatic exercise class report experiencing significant positive changes in their feelings, demonstrating this popular exercise’s acute mental health benefits. Although further controlled research is needed in this area, the current results have promising implications for middle-aged women’s mental health preservation and promotion.

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Cover Mentálhigiéné és Pszichoszomatika
Mentálhigiéné és Pszichoszomatika
Print ISSN:
1419-8126
Online ISSN:
1786-3759

Senior editors

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Adrienne STAUDER

Editor(s): Edit CZEGLÉDI

Editorial Board

  • László Csaba DÉGI (Babeş-Bolyai Tudományegyetem, Kolozsvár, Románia)
  • Zsolt DEMETROVICS (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
  • Barna KONKOLŸ THEGE (Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, Penetanguishene, Canada)
  • Karolina KÓSA (University of Debrecen, Debrecen)
  • Márta NOVÁK (University of Toronto, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada)
  • Bettina PIKÓ (University of Szeged, Szeged)
  • József RÁCZ (Semmelweis University, Budapest; Eötvös University, Budapest)
  • István TIRINGER (University of Pécs, Pécs)

Editorial Correspondence: Czeglédi, Edit
Institute of Behavioural Sciences
Semmelweis University
Nagyvárad tér 4.
H-1089 Budapest, Hungary
Phone: (36 1) 210 2930 ext. 56151 ---- Fax: (36 1) 210 2955
E-mail: mentalhigiene.pszichoszomatika@gmail.com

Indexing and Abstracting Services:

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2023  
Scopus  
CiteScore 0.6
CiteScore rank Q4 (Psychiatry and Mental Health)
SNIP 0.149
Scimago  
SJR index 0.141
SJR Q rank Q4

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Mentálhigiéné és Pszichoszomatika
Language English
Hungarian
Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 2000
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 4
Founder Végeken Egészséglélektani Alapítvány
Founder's
Address		 H-1089 Budapest, Hungary Nagyvárad tér 4.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address		 H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher		 Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 1419-8126 (Print)
ISSN 1786-3759 (Online)

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