Relationship between Leisure Activities and Change of Motivational Readiness for Exercise

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between interests in leisure activity and motivational readiness for exercise behavior among those who did not intend to do exercise in the age group of 40-59 years. METHODS: The study was a longitudinal study, using an internet-based questionnaire. Data were collected at baseline (T1) and 8 weeks (T2) . The respondents were 536 adults in the pre-contemplation (PC) stage regarding stages of change for exercise behavior (aged 40-59) at T1, recruited from the registrants of a Japanese social research company. Among research items, the dependent variable was stages of change for exercise behavior at T2. Independent variables included interests in 29 leisure activities. Logistic regression analysis was conducted, adjusting for interests in other leisure activities, gender, age, and household income level. RESULTS: At T2, 26.7% (n=143) moved from PC to other stages. Interest in watching sports (OR=1.79 ; 95%CI: 1.12-2.86) and interest in shopping (OR=1.89 ; 95%CI: 1.15-3.09) were positively associated with the transition from PC to other stages. In contrast, negative relationship was observed between interest in amusement parks or theme parks (OR=0.32 ; 95%CI: 0.15-0.66) and the transition from PC to other stages. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that interests in watching sports and in shopping are positively associated with motivational readiness for exercise behavior among those in PC, though interests in some types of leisure activities (amusement parks and theme parks) are negatively associated.