A 6-Month Pilot Study of Effects of a Physical Activity Intervention on Life Satisfaction with a Sample of Three Generations of Women

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2005

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/pms.100.3.579-591

Abstract

This pilot study assessed possible changes in Life Satisfaction across three generations of women after a 6-mo. physical activity intervention. The primary purpose of the study was to test the study design and discover critical issues that should be controlled for or changed in a follow-up study. A quasi-experimental design was used to assign randomly a convenience sample of participant triads into two groups: a home-based group (n=27) and a control group (n=9). Daughters were pre-menarcheal (n=13,M=10.1 yr., SD=1.5), mothers were premenopausal (n=11, M=10.1 yr., SD=1.5) and grandmothers were post-menopausal (n=1, M-61.5 yr., SD=4.4). Life Satisfaction was measured using the Safisfaction with Life Scale. Participation in physical activity was measured using the Physical Best Physical Activity Questionnaire and a pedometer to count the number of steps taken per day. Compared with the control group, participants in the home-based group generally increased physical activity but their scores for Life Satisfaction did not increase. Recommendations concerning the study design, reducing limitations, and hypotheses for further study are given.

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