Psycho-Physiological Effects of Television Viewing During Exercise
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©Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2016) 15, 524-531 http://www.jssm.org Research article Psycho-Physiological Effects of Television Viewing During Exercise Brian C. Rider 1,3, David R. Bassett 1, Kelley Strohacker 1, Brittany S. Overstreet 1, Eugene C. Fitz- hugh 1 and Hollie A. Raynor 2 1 Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, & Sport Studies, 2 Department of Nutrition, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN, USA, 3 Department of Kinesiology, Hope College, Holland MI. pleasurable (Higgins, 2006). Specifically, HMT purports that affective responses (e.g. pride, satisfaction, disap- Abstract pointment) to an activity drives future engagement in that We propose that enjoyment is an important factor in the adop- tion and long-term maintenance of exercise. Television (TV) activity (Higgins, 2006). viewing is believed to be a highly enjoyed leisure-time activity, One plausible way of improving affective respons- combining it with exercise may make for a more enjoyable es during exercise (and thus increasing perceived enjoy- exercise experience. The objective of this study was to examine ment) is through distraction. According to the Rejeski's the effects of television (TV) viewing on psychological and (1985) parallel processing conceptualization theory, ex- physiological variables during a moderate-intensity exercise ternal and internal sources of information must compete bout. Twenty-eight insufficiently active (<150 minutes per for the individual's attention, since both cannot be pro- week of moderate intensity PA and/or 75 minutes of vigorous cessed simultaneously (Rejeski, 1985). When an individ- PA) adults (Age: M = 47.4 ± 7.6 years) participated in this ual is distracted by external cues, an accompanying study. Each participant performed three separate 30-minute walking bouts on a motorized treadmill. During each bout, change in mood is often linked to dissociation from inter- participants watched a program they selected (30-minute script- nal cues (e.g. increased heart rate, fatigue) (Bigliassi et ed show) (self-selected TV condition), a British Broadcasting al., 2016; Lind et al., 2009). Thus, when external stimuli Corporation (BBC) nature program (standardized TV condition), (potential distractors) and internal stimuli (e.g., monitor- or no TV program (no TV condition). Participants were unable ing of HR or breathing) are both present, the external to select the nature program as their self-selected program, as it stimuli must be cognitively salient for dissociation to was not a 30-minute scripted program. A Polar Heart Rate (HR) occur (Pennebaker and Lightner, 1980). Recent research monitor and validated surveys on affect and enjoyment were into the brain mechanisms occurring while listening to used. Participants reported greater enjoyment of exercise for motivational audiovisual stimuli during exercise has illus- both self-selected and standardized TV conditions (97.1 ± 15.2 and 92.7 ± 15.2), compared to the No TV condition (77.5 ± 13.4, trated the effect of the external stimuli on both low and p < 0.001). The two TV conditions resulted in similar levels of high-frequency waves in the pre frontal cortex (Bigliassi focus on TV viewing (self-selected TV: 81.2 ± 19.7; standard- et al., 2016). The authors found that in the presence of a ized TV: 79.1 ± 14.2, p > 0.05) and dissociation from walking motivational stimuli (sport scene from a movie) the elec- (self-selected TV: 38.1 ± 6.7 and standardized TV: 33.2 ± 3.9); trical activity in the brain adjusted to decrease the sensa- they also resulted in more dissociation than the no TV condition tion of fatigue in the working muscles. This alteration did (TV: 72.6 ± 5.6, p = 0.002). The findings indicate that TV view- not occur in the absence of the motivational stimuli. Thus, ing, regardless of whether the programming is self-selected or in order to improve exercise behavior, it is likely that the standardized, associates with greater enjoyment of exercise. addition of distracting stimuli may be beneficial. Key words: Enjoyment, dissociation, physical activity. A strong body of literature indicates that music promotes dissociation from the internal cues of exercise, resulting in a more positive exercise experience Introduction (Karageorghis and Jones, 2014). Two comprehensive reviews (Karageorghis and Priest, 2012a; 2012b) have Enjoyment is considered an important factor in the adop- concluded that listening to music can increase enjoyment tion and long-term maintenance of exercise and physical of exercise. The evidence shows evidence that both tempo activity (PA) behaviors (Dishman et al., 1985). In a re- and volume (Edworthy and Waring, 2006; Wilsont and view of the determinants of PA, Trost, et al. (2002) re- Herbstein, 2003) can impact psychological and physiolog- ported that enjoyment of exercise showed a strong posi- ical responses to exercise to improve enjoyment. More tive association with PA. A growing body of literature recently, Hutchinson, Karageorghis and Jones (2014) also suggests assessing core affective responses during found that exercising to both music-and-video elicited the exercise (pleasure vs. displeasure), as these responses are highest levels of dissociation, lowest RPE, and most posi- also related to continued exercise behavior and can inform tive affective responses regardless of exercise intensity appraisals of enjoyment. (Booth et al., 2000; Ekkekakis et when compared to a music-only group and no music con- al., 2013; Leslie et al., 1999; Williams et al., 2012b). This trol group. Given this finding, it is reasonable to specu- hypothesis is rooted in Hedonic Motivation Theory late that watching television during exercise, which com- (HMT), which states that individuals will engage in activ- bines visual and auditory stimuli, may have a similar ities they find pleasurable and avoid those they find un- impact on psycho-physiological responses to acute exer- Received: 17 May 2016 / Accepted: 12 July 2016 / Published (online): 05 August 2016 Rider et al. 525 cise. viduals were recruited by word of mouth, flyers placed on The rationale for assessing the impact of TV community bulletin boards, and email. The inclusion watching on exercise responses is multifaceted. First, criteria were as follows: 30 to 60 years of age, body mass television viewing is rated as a highly enjoyable leisure- index between 18.5-44.0 kg∙m-2, accumulating insuffi- time activity (Epstein et al., 1995) Whereas previous cient levels of PA (less than 150 minutes per week of studies have attempted to reduce screen time to be re- moderate intensity PA and/or 75 minutes of vigorous PA) placed with PA (Ramsey Buchanan et al., 2016) or use it (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as a reward for engaging in PA (Vaughn et al., 2013) 2001) and able to perform 30 minutes of continuous mod- neither approach would necessarily improve enjoyment of erate intensity exercise on a treadmill. Individuals who exercise itself. Second, combining the two behaviors may had contraindications to exercise, determined by adminis- present the opportunity to remove a major barrier to PA tering a physical activity readiness questionnaire (PAR-Q) (i.e. lack of time), considering that the average US adult (Thomas et al., 1992), or an injury/physical limitation that watches approximately 20 hours of TV per week (U.S. rendered them unable to meet this requirement, were Department of Labor and Bureau of Labor Statistics, excluded. Potential participants were also asked to list 2013), Third, the results from two studies lend initial their three favorite half-hour TV programs. If none of the support for this approach, warranting the collection of programs were available (via Amazon Prime or Net- additional empirical data (Overstreet et al., 2016; Privitera flix.com) the participant was excluded from the study. et al., 2014). Privitera, et al. (2014) reported that college students who exercised while viewing a pleasurable TV Experimental protocol program had a significant increase in pleasant mood, The participants attended four laboratory visits led by the compared to those who exercised while viewing an un- same researcher. Informed consent was obtained in ac- pleasurable program or no TV program. However, the cordance with a study protocol approved by the universi- study has limitations. Mainly, that despite referring to ty’s institutional review board (IRB). Subsequently, indi- their primary outcome as “mood” the authors actually viduals were enrolled in the study and were randomly assessed “affect” by using what is referred to as the Affect assigned to perform condition one, two, or three for the Grid (Russel et al., 1989) and these are distinct concepts. first trial. During the first visit, height was measured to Additionally, the measurements were taken outside the the nearest millimeter using a standard Seca stadiometer time boundaries (pre and post) of the 10-minute exercise (Birmingham, United Kingdom), and weight was meas- bout. Thus, these measurements might more accurately ured to the nearest 0.05 kilogram (kg) with a calibrated reflect the “rebound effect” (Bixby et al., 2001) indicating Health-o-meter digital scale (Boca Raton, Florida) (Table the scores are more representative of a positive experience 1). Resting heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were post exercise and not during it. Overstreet et al. (2016) measured after the participant had been seated at rest for found that exercise was rated as more enjoyable when five minutes. Participants completed a series of question- watching a nature documentary compared to a no-TV naires designed to assess basic demographic characteris- condition. In order to increase the applicability of these tics and TV viewing habits. findings to a wider range of people and more varied pro- gram-type, it is important to determine whether this effect Table 1. Participant characteristics. persists when allowing individuals to choose a program to Variables n = 28 (82% female) watch (as they have the option to do in free-living situa- Age (y) 47.4 (7.6) tions).