The effects of a self-administering fitness program on anxiety, self-concept and fitness

Abstract

The purpose of the study was twofold. Firstly to study the effects of a six-week aerobic fitness program on self-concept, fitness and anxiety, and secondly to investigate the relationships between the three mentioned variables. -- The sample used in this study was composed of 22 Subjects from the staff and students of Memorial University of Newfoundland. The subjects were given a series of tests (both at the beginning and end of the experiment) to measure anxiety, self-concept and fitness levels. From the 22 subjects that volunteered for the six-week fitness program, 5 subjects failed to complete, all of the posttests and were eliminated from all the analyses. One other subject missed only the post administration of the 16PF and therefore was retained for the other analyses. -- The correlations between the three variables were calculated using Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation. The Correlation between self-concept and anxiety was significant at the p. <.05 level. -- The results of the six-week fitness program were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney u statistics. Subjects who took part in the fitness program decreased in anxiety. Although the experimental group did not increase in fitness to a greater extent than the control group (u = 52, p. >.05), they did increase in fitness (w = 5.5, p. <.05), while the control group did not increase in fitness (w = 10, p. >.05). The fitness program had no significant effect (u = 25, p. >.05) on levels of self-concept. -- Subjects who increased in fitness, decreased in anxiety to a greater extent than subjects who did not increase in fitness (u = 42.5, p. <.05). -- The study concluded that fitness training decreased anxiety. The data on the effects of the fitness program on fitness levels was inconclusive; while the experimental group did increase in fitness, they did not increase to a greater extent than the control group. The fitness program had no significant effect on self-concept levels. Fitness was not significantly correlated with either anxiety or self-concept.