The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of a 4-week immersive-virtual reality (VR) exercise bike intervention on college students' physiological outcomes (physical activity levels, cardiovascular fitness, and body composition) and psychological outcomes (situational motivation, situational interest, mood states, and depressive symptoms).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
36
For the intervention group, participations exercised on an immersive VR-based exercise bike for one hour, twice per week, for 4 weeks. Participants in the control group were asked to maintain their usual routine after the baseline test for 4 weeks. Participants were scheduled separately coming to lab for the post-test after 4 weeks and all participants received the identical assessments in aforementioned physiological and psychological outcomes.
Participants were asked to maintain their usual activities, without engaging in any other physical activity intervention during the 4-week study period.
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Exercise Motivation
Participants' motivation were assessed by the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnire-2 (BREQ-2). The BREQ-2 has 19 items assessing the continuum of behavioral regulation in exercise, which included amotivation, external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and intrinsic regulation.
Time frame: Baseline, and 4 weeks
Mood States
Participants' mood states were measured by the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS). The BRUMS assesses mood across six subscales (anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, tension, and vigor) using a 24-item questionnaire with responses ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely).
Time frame: Baseline, and 4 weeks
Depressive Symptoms
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to assess participant's depressive symptoms. This is a 21-item, self-report rating inventory that measures characteristic attitudes and symptoms of depression. The total score was calculated to the evaluate the severity of depressive symptoms.
Time frame: Baseline, and 4 weeks
Cardiovascular fitness levels
Investigators asked participants to step on and off of a 12-inch plyometric box for 3 minutes to the "beep" of a metronome set to 96 beats-per-minute, with each beep corresponding with one leg movement. Immediately following the completion of the test, the principal investigator measured participants' heart rate for 60 seconds via palpation of the radial artery on the underbelly of the left wrist.
Time frame: Baseline, and 4 weeks
Physical activity levels
Physical activity levels were assessed via International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The IPAQ assesses three specific types of activity: walking, moderate-intensity activities, and vigorous-intensity activities. It asks participants to recall the time (in minutes) spent on each of these activities in the past 7 days. Each participant were assigned an accelerometer to wear during each 60-minute exercise session. Prior to the start of the intervention, participants were asked to wear an accelerometer for one week for measuring their physical activity levels. In addition, the investigators asked participants to wear the accelerometer for another week at the completion of 4-week intervention.
Time frame: Baseline, and 4 weeks
Body Mass Index
Participant height (cm) and weight (kg) were measured using a stadiometer and a Tanita BC-558 IRONMAN Segmental Body Composition Monitor, respectively, in theUniversity of Minnesota's Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory. Both height and weight were used to calculate BMI in kg/m². BMI was classified according to the following indicators: Underweight: BMI \< 18.5; Normal weight: BMI 18.5-24.9; Overweight: BMI 25-29.9; Obesity: BMI ≥ 30.
Time frame: Baseline, and 4 weeks
Percent of body fat
Percent of body fat (%BF) were measured by Tanita BC-558 IRONMAN Segmental Body Composition Monitor.
Time frame: Baseline, and 4 weeks
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