Short- and longer-term psychological and behavioral effects of exergaming and traditional aerobic training: A randomized controlled trial

This study aimed to compare short- and longer-term psychological and behavioral effects of the exergaming (EX-GAME) and traditional group aerobic training (TRAD) on psychological constructs and physical activity adherence. Young adults (n = 55; 18–24 yrs) were randomized to the EX-GAME and TRAD (active control group) training regimens which had identical exercise volume (3/w, 50 min for 6w). The results indicated that EX-GAME was more effective in improving short- and longer-term autonomy satisfaction (F[1, 41] = 6.12, p =.020, η_p² =.12) and intrinsic motivation (F[1, 41] = 7.31, p =.009, η_p² =.19), but TRAD resulted in greater exercise exertion (t[41] = 5.03, p <.001, d = 1.51), enjoyment (F[1, 41] = 6.27, p =.018, η_p² =.13), and relatedness (F[1, 41] = 4.56, p =.032, η_p² =.10). TRAD had showed a larger long-term effect on identified regulation (F[1, 41] = 5.10, p =.029, η_p² =.11). The results indicated that autonomy is a key agent for a longer-term change, contributing to the positive development of intrinsic motivation (R² =.45), identified regulation (R² =.27), and reducing amotivation (R² =.10). It is noteworthy that interventions did not have longer-term effects on physical activity. The study identified subtle differences between these two training modalities in changing intervention outcomes.