Social physique anxiety, mental health, and exercise: Analyzing the role of basic psychological needs and psychological inflexibility

• Manuel Alcaraz-Ibáñez ^[1] ; Álvaro Sicilia ^[1] ; Rafael Burgueño ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Almería

     Universidad de Almería

     Almería, España

     
• Localización: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN 1138-7416, Vol. 20, 2017, 11 págs.
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study aimed to determine the usefulness of integrating basic psychological needs theory (BPNT) and relational frames theory (RFT) in order to explain the effects of social physique anxiety (SPA) – in the context of exercise – on exercisers’ mental health. A total of 296 recreational cyclists and triathletes (100% males) aged 18 to 60 years old (M age = 35.65, SD = 9.49) completed a multi-section questionnaire assessing the target variables. Two models of structural equations with multiple mediators were tested using 5000 bootstrap samples. While the BPNT-based model explained 20% of variance in satisfaction with life (SWL) and 25% of variance in mental health (MH), the model that also incorporated RFT explained 43% of variance in both of those variables. Results showed that SPA negatively impacted exercisers’ mental health via two different mechanisms: a) through a decrease in perceived satisfaction of basic psychological needs (β = –.05, p = .045 for SWL; β = –.07, p = .002 for MH); b) through an increase in psychological inflexibility, generated directly by SPA (β = –.24, p < .001 for SWL; β = –.20, p < .001 for MH) and also mediated by basic psychological need thwarting (β = –.09, p < .001 for SWL; β = –.08, p = .002 for MH). Results supported integrating the two theories, elucidating the processes by which a controlling social factor like SPA can affect the potential benefits of exercise.