| Abstrakt: |
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of a single bout of Greek dances on the subjective health of middle-aged people. Fifty one subjects (33 women and 18 men) 56.53±5.52 years old, participated in a bout of Greek dances for one hour. For subjective health evaluation the Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale (McAuley & Courneya, 1994) was completed 5 min before and after the Greek dances bout. In addition, the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (Kendzierski, & DeCarlo, 1991) was completed only after the dancing bout. For data analysis, descriptive analysis, the non-parametric test Wilcoxon, the non-parametric test Mann-Whitney and correlation analysis of the SPSS ver. 18.0 for windows were used. After dancing, significant decreases in psychological distress (z=3.758, p<0.001), as well as significant increases in positive well-being (z=-2.720, p<0.01) were observed, while fatigue didn't present significant alterations. The extent to which the subjects enjoyed doing Greek dances ranged in a high rate (103±25.37 degrees). In addition, a very significant positive correlation was found between the enjoyment of the Greek dances and the positive well-being (r=0.366, p<0.01). From the correlation analysis and Mann-Whitney test, it was clear that the subjects who enjoyed highly their participation in Greek dances bout had significantly higher positive well-being (z=-4.302, p< 0.001), and felt lower psychological distress- although not significant. Thus, it can be said that the enjoyment constitutes a significant factor that could affect the subjective health of the participants in the Greek dances. Consequently, Greek dances are an ideal and enjoyable alternative form of exercise promising subjective health improvement for middle-aged people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
