A 6-Month Pilot Study to Examine the Effects of Physical Activity Intervention on Life Cycle Satisfaction with a Sample of Three Generations of Women
© Perceptual and Motor Skills 2005, Ammons Scientific.
DOI: 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 conveience sample of participant triads into two groups: a home-based group (n = 27) and a control group (n = 9). Daughters were premenarcheal (n = 13, M = 10.1 yr., SD = 1.5), mothers were premenopausal (n = 13, M = 37.2 yr., SD = 4.2), and grandmothers were postmenopausal (n = 11, M = 61.5 yr., SD = 4.4). Life Satisfaction was measured using the Satisfaction 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.