Comparing the Effects of Affect- Regulated Green and Indoor Exercise on Psychological Distress and Enjoyment in University Undergraduate Students: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this pilot study was to compare the acute effects of affect-regulated green exercise and indoor exercise on psychological distress and enjoyment in university undergraduate students. Using a repeated measures experimental design, 18 undergraduate students at an urban university in England completed three conditions: green exercise; indoor exercise; and a non-exercise control condition. Stress and anxiety were measured using standardised measures before and after each condition, while enjoyment was assessed after each condition. Affective valance was also assessed during the exercise conditions. A significant decline in stress was found after each exercise condition, with pre- to post-condition anxiety changes shown only after the green exercise condition. When assessing effect sizes, larger reductions in stress and anxiety were shown after the green exercise condition compared to the indoor exercise condition. No significant effect was present for enjoyment for any of the conditions. A primary contribution of this pilot study was that participants reported greater anxiety reductions in the green exercise condition versus the indoor exercise condition, as well as decreased stress in both the green and indoor settings, of which, a larger effect was shown for green exercise. Affect-regulated exercise could be a promising approach for acute reductions in psychological distress in exercise bouts in university students.