Psycho-Physiological Effects of Television Viewing During Exercise

Purpose: To examine the effects of television (TV) viewing on psychological and physiological variables during a moderate-intensity exercise bout. Methods: 28 insufficiently active adults participated in this study. Each participant performed three separate 30-minute walking bouts on a motorized treadmill. The bouts were separated by 48 hours and the majority of participants completed all bouts within three weeks. During each bout, participants watched a program they selected (self-selected TV condition), a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) nature program the investigators selected (standardized TV condition), and one bout involved no TV viewing (no TV condition). Variables measured during exercise were: heart rate (HR), perceived exertion (RPE), affect (FS), and arousal (FAS). The physical activity enjoyment scale (PACES), subjective exercise experience scale (SEES), and three VAS were administered at the end of each bout. Repeated measures ANOVAs were performed on all variables and additional analyses were conducted to assess the potential mediators of exercise enjoyment (e.g., exercise motivation types). Results: Participants rated enjoyment of exercise higher during both self-selected TV and standardized TV conditions (97.1 ± 15.2 and 92.7 ± 15.2) compared to the No TV condition (77.5 ± 13.4, p < 0.001). Participants reported more positive affect during the self-selected TV condition compared to the no TV control condition (3.49 ± 0.17 vs. 2.7 ± 0.3, p=0.025). They reported liking the self-selected program more (84.3 ± 2.1 vs. 67.2 ± 4.3, p=0.001) than the standardized program. Nonetheless, the two types of TV programs resulted in similar levels of attentional focus on TV viewing (self: 81.2 ± 19.7 and standardized: 79.1 ± 14.2, p > 0.05) and dissociation from walking, (no TV: 72.6 ± 5.6 vs. self: 38.1 ± 6.7 and standardized: 33.2 ±3.9, p=0.002) compared to the no TV condition. Conclusion: The findings indicate that TV viewing, regardless of whether the programming is self-selected or standardized, resulted in greater enjoyment of exercise. This may have occurred because TV viewing caused the participants to focus their attention more on the TV program, and less on the physiological demands of the exercise bout itself.