Abstract
Background: The positive effects of regular sport are shown by a series of studies: better emotional and mental state, increase of self-esteem across the psychical competence, improvement of the body image and body awareness. Aim: The present study aimed at the investigation of the supposed positive relationship between regular aerobic exercise and psychological well-being, self-esteem and body awareness. To the authors' knowledge, no Hungarian study on the relationship between self-esteem and body awareness has been published to date. Methods: 208 regularly exercising female participants (age range: 18-60 yrs; mean: 28.4 ± 8.46 yrs) completed the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES), the Contingent Self-esteem Scale (CSES), the Somatic Absorption Scale (SAS), the short version of the WHO Well-Being Index (WBI-5), and the short version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in a cross-sectional study. Results: Time from beginning of regular exercise showed significant correlation with global self-esteem (Kendall tau-b: 0.12; p < 0.05) and significant negative correlation with negative affect (Kendall tau-b:-0.12; p < 0.05). Weekly exercise frequency was positively related to psychological well-being (Kendall tau-b: 0.23; p < 0.001), somatic absorption (Kendall tau-b: 0.10; p < 0.05), and negatively related to negative affect (Kendall tau-b:-0.14; p < 0.01). In binary logistic regression analysis, weekly exercise frequency, global self-esteem, and somatic absorption explained 18.1% (Cox & Snell) or 24.3% (Nagelkerke) of total variance of well-being. Global self-esteem was positively connected to participants' educational qualification, and negatively connected to both types of contingent self-esteem in another binary logistic regression model (Cox & Snell: 29.3%; Nagelkerke: 39.1%). Conclusions: Regular aerobic exercise proved to be associated with higher global self-esteem, improved psychological well-being, body awareness, and lower levels of negative affect in women.
Translated title of the contribution | Relationships among aerobic exercise, psychological well-being, self-esteem, and body awareness in women - An empirical study |
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Original language | Hungarian |
Pages (from-to) | 273-295 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | Mentalhigiene es Pszichoszomatika |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- aerobic
- body awareness
- contingent self-esteem
- global self-esteem
- psychological well-being