Abstract
The aim of the study was to test the associations between the self-reported access to exercise in green spaces (GS) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) testing the mediating role of the motivation. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), we expected that self-determined motivation will mediate the associations between the self-reported availability of GS for exercising (GSE) and MVPA with the most self-determined exercise regulation forms (identified and intrinsic motivation) demonstrating the strongest positive associations between the variables. Method: The sample consisted of 2154 participants (74.7% women). The ages ranged from 18 to 79 years, with a mean age of 32.6 (SD = 12.2) years. Participants completed the Behavior Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2, the measures of self-reported distance to residential GS (RGS), availability of the GS for exercising (GSE), and physical activity (PA). Logistic regression and path analysis were used to test the associations between study variables. Results: Higher reported distance to RGS was associated with lower reported availability of GSE, but not PA. Availability of GSE was directly associated with more frequent MVPA. More autonomous forms of exercise behavior regulation (intrinsic and identified regulations) mediated the associations between self-reported availability of GSE and MVPA. Internal and identified exercise regulations were directly associated with more frequent MVPA. Conclusions: The results of the present study support the main tenets of SDT suggesting that self-determined behavioral exercise regulation is an important mediator between the self-reported availability of GSE and general MVPA. Practical implications of these findings are discussed herein.
Highlights
Recent studies concluded that access to natural green spaces (GS) is associated with the better public health in western societies [1,2]
Since the data were obtained from online study, we compared the main sample characteristics to the general characteristics that had been reported in other populational studies of Lithuania
Other findings suggested that physical activity (PA) and Body mass index (BMI) data in our sample reflect the findings of populational studies
Summary
Recent studies concluded that access to natural green spaces (GS) is associated with the better public health in western societies [1,2]. Exposure to natural GS has been associated with many beneficial health effects such as reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, improved mental health, stress reduction, social cohesion, and quality of life [1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Studies have suggested that access to GS might help to decrease sedentary behavior and to increase physical activity (PA) especially in highly urbanized cities and for economically deprived populations [14,15]. Sedentary behavior and physical inactivity are major public health concerns [17].
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