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GYMNASTICS, GREEK TRADITIONAL DANCE AND 
TENNIS AS LEISURE-TIME PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES: 
WHICH ONE TRIGGERS THE MOST POSITIVE 
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES? 
 
Christina Argyrou, Stylianos Spinos, Vasileios Karfis & Fotini Venetsanou 
 
 
School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of 
Athens, Greece 
 
Original article 
Abstract 
Participating in leisure-time physical activity (PA) is thought to positively associate with 
mental health. The aim of the present study was to investigate the acute psychological 
responses of adults who take part in different types of leisure-time PA (gymnastics; Greek 
traditional dance; tennis). A total of 277 adults, aged 18-65 years (M= 35.9, SD= 12.76 
years), taking part in Greek traditional dance (n=89), gymnastics (n=88), or tennis (n=100) 
volunteered to participate. In order for potential changes in participants’ positive well-being, 
psychological distress and perceived fatigue to be examined, the Subjective Exercise 
Experiences Scale (SEES) was administered before and after a session of the aforementioned 
programmes. The 3 (group [gymnastics vs Greek traditional dance vs tennis]) X 2 (time [pre-
test vs post-test) analyses of variance that were performed on the SEES subscales (positive 
well-being; psychological distress; fatigue) revealed practically significant improvements in 
the positive well-being for all participants (p<.001, η
2
=.25) and statistically significant 
interactions (though not of practical importance) between group and time in positive well-
being (p<.001, η
2
=.068), psychological distress (p<.05, η
2
=.02) and fatigue (p<.05, 
η
2
=.033), with participants in gymnastics presenting the most optimal results, followed by 
those of Greek traditional dance. Although further research is needed to fully understand the 
features of a PA/exercise that lead to the greatest boost in people’s well-being, taking into 
account the growing prevalence of mental health disorders in our society, encouraging adults 
to join in a leisure-time PA/exercise programme seems imperative for their (psychological) 
health benefit. 
 
Keywords: positive well-being, psychological distress, perceived fatigue.
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Mental health is defined as “a state of 
(psychological) well-being in which 
an individual realizes his or her own 
abilities, can cope with the normal stresses 
of life, can work productively and is able 
to make a contribution to his or her 
community.” (World Health Organization; 
WHO, 2005). Based on the above  
 
 
 
 
definition, mental health should be 
considered very important for public 
health, societal well-being, and economic 
development (WHO, 2013). Nevertheless, 
nowadays, many people suffer from mental 
disorders, with depression being among the 
main factors of disability worldwide 
(WHO, 2005). In the WHO European 

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Union alone, 44.3 million people present 
depression and 37.3 million present 
anxiety (Vos et al., 2016).  
Among the factors that are thought to 
positively associate with mental health is 
physical activity (PA) (Bize, Johnson, & 
Plotnikoff, 2007; Ohrnberger, Fichera, & 
Sutton, 2017), with the domain in which 
PA takes place playing an important role 
(White et al., 2017). Specifically, leisure-
time PA that provides people with positive 
feelings, is related with self-efficacy 
(DeBoer, Powers, Utschig, Otto, & Smits, 
2012; Delahanty, Conroy, Nathan, & 
Diabetes Prevention Program Research 
Group, 2006; Middelkamp, van Rooijen, 
Wolfhagen, & Steenbergen, 2017), 
provides opportunities to interact with 
other people (Bailey & McLaren, 2005) as 
well as escape from stressful lives (Leith, 
2010), is more strongly associated with 
psychological benefits than other domains, 
such as transport PA, work PA or 
household PA (Asztalos et al., 2009; Kull 
Ainsaar, Kiive, & Raudsepp, 2012; Ohta, 
Mizoue, Nishima, & Ikeda, 2007; White et 
al., 2017).  
In a recent large-scale study 
(Chekroud et al., 2018), it was found that 
people who physically exercise, have 
approximately 43% fewer days/per month 
of poor mental health than those who do 
not exercise. Moreover, sufficient research 
evidence supports the value of several 
types of leisure-time PA and physical 
exercise, such as popular team sports 
(Chekroud et al., 2018), tennis (Groppel & 
DiNubile, 2009; Yazici, Gul, Yazici, & 
Gul, 2016), dance (e.g., ballroom dance 
[Haboush, Floyd, Caron, LaSota, & 
Alvarez, 2006], Greek traditional dance 
[Mavrovouniotis, Argyriadou, & 
Papaioannou, 2010]), aerobic exercise 
(Broman-Fulks, Berman, Rabian, & 
Webster, 2004; McAuley et al., 2000), and 
mindful exercise (Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, 
& Oh, 2010) for positive psychological 
outcomes. It is interesting to note that 
several researchers report that even one 
single session of leisure-time PA/ physical 
exercise, such as aerobic gymnastics 
(Genti, Goulimaris, & Yfantidou, 2009; 
Lox & Rudolph, 1994; Netz & Lidor, 
2003; Panagopoulou, Charalampopoulos, 
Piperidou, & Rokka, 2016; Rokka, 
Mavridis, & Kouli, 2010), Greek 
traditional dance (GTD) (Genti et al., 
2009), or mindful exercise (Netz & Lidor, 
2003) can trigger positive psychological 
responses.  
In Greece, 4.7% of population report 
that they suffer from depression (80.8% 
increase compared to 2009), 7.5% present 
stress disorders, and 1.7% have various 
mental disorders. Taking into account both 
the above worrying levels of mental 
disorders and the benefits of leisure-time 
PA, it would be useful to gather evidence 
regarding the type(s) of leisure-time PA 
with the most positive effects on the 
mental health of participants. For this 
purpose, evidence from experimental 
research comparing the acute effects of 
different programmes would be valuable, 
helping people choose the PA that best 
suits them and offers the most benefits. 
However, relevant published studies are 
limited to just a handful, with most of them 
examining programmes with several 
similarities, such as Zumba and Salsa 
dance (Domene, Moir, Pummell & Easton, 
2016); dance aerobics, step aerobics, and 
aqua aerobics (Panagopoulou et al., 2016), 
or Pilates and yoga (Fotiadi, Petsa, Rokka, 
Mavridis, & Bebetsos, 2017). Only two 
studies examine different types of 
PA/physical exercise, such as aerobics, 
GTD, and muscle strengthening with 
additional weights (Genti et al., 2009), or 
Zumba, hip-hop, body conditioning, and 
ice skating (Kim & Kim, 2007).  
From the above, it is obvious that 
although aerobics has attracted 
researchers’ interest, other popular types of 
PA/physical exercise have been 
investigated to a lesser extent (or even not 
at all). For example, the positive effects of 
GTD, compared to other programmes, 
were examined only in one study (Genti et 
al., 2009), although GTD is a type of PA 

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much-loved among Greeks. Another very 
popular type of exercise thought to offer 
plenty of health benefits for participants of 
all ages (Groppel & DiNubile, 2009; 
Kovacs et al., 2016; Pluim, Staal, Marks, 
Miller, & Miley, 2007) is tennis. 
Nevertheless, there is only one study 
examining the acute effects of tennis, 
focusing only on participants’ 
physiological, not psychological responses 
(Murphy, Duffield, & Reid, 2014). Based 
on the above, the aim of the present study 
was to investigate the acute psychological 
responses of adults who participate in 
gymnastics, GTD, and tennis, in an attempt 
to shed light on the psychological benefits 
that can be gained from PA/physical 
exercise programmes with different 
characteristics.   
 
METHODS 
 
A total of 277 adults (87 men; 190 
women), aged 18-65 years (M = 35.9, SD 
= 12.76 years), who took part in GTD 
(n=89), gymnastics (Zumba [n=42] and 
Pilates [n=46]), and tennis (n=100) in 
Athens, 2-3 times per week, volunteered to 
participate. The age of participants by 
group as well as the years of their 
participation in the above programmes is 
presented in Table 1.  
 
 
Table 1  
Descriptive statistics of participants’ age and years of participation in GTD, gymnastics and 
tennis. 
 
 Greek traditional dance Tennis Gymnastics 
Age  37.10 + 10.70 31.18 + 9.89 40.82 + 13.23
Years of participation 2.21 + 2.04 1.28 + 1.07 1.59 + 1.19
 
 
The Subjective Exercise Experiences 
Scale (SEES; MeAuley & Courneya, 1994) 
that aims to assess subjective responses to 
exercise participation, adapted for the 
Greek population (Papaioannou et al., 
2010), was used for data collection. The 
SEES consists of 12 items, answered on a 
seven-point Likert scale (1= “not at all”, 
4= “so and so” and 7= “very much”). 
Those items are classified by three factors: 
Positive Well-Being (PWB; 4 items), 
Psychological Distress (PD; 4 items) and 
Fatigue (4 items). The first two factors 
(PWB; PD) respond to the positive and 
negative sides of psychological health-
wellness, whereas the third factor 
represents the perceived fatigue. SEES’ 
construct validity (Mavrovouniotis et al., 
2010; MeAuley & Courneya, 1994) and 
internal consistency (Bartholomew, 
Morisson & Ciccolo, 2005; 
Mavrovouniotis et al., 2010) are well 
established.  
First, informative meetings took place 
at sport/dance clubs (November 2016 - 
March 2017), in which potential 
participants were informed about the aim 
and the procedures of the study. Those 
who agreed to take part were provided 
with written consent forms for 
participation and asked to fill them in and 
sign. Within the next two weeks, the 
researchers re-visited the clubs and 
administered the SEES to participants 10 
minutes before (pre-test) and 10 minutes 
immediately after (post-test) a randomly 
selected 60 minute-session.  
Regarding data analysis, at a 
preliminary level, Cronbach’s α index was 
computed to examine the internal 
consistency of the three SEES subscales in 
both pre- and post- tests. A value of α = 
.70 was considered as the cut-off for 
accepted internal consistency (Cicchetti, 
1994). Moreover, potential differences 
between the two types of gymnastics 

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(Zumba vs Pilates) on the three SEES 
subscales (PWB; PD; Fatigue) were 
examined, using analyses of variance with 
repeated measures. Their results revealed 
no significant interaction of time and 
gymnastics type (p >.05) nor significant 
main effect of gymnastics type (p >.05); 
thus, data of the participants in Zumba and 
Pilates were merged.  
Then, 3 (group) X 2 (time) analyses of 
variance were performed on the SEES 
subscales scores to examine potential 
differences in participants’ psychological 
responses due to the type of leisure-PA 
(gymnastics vs GTD vs tennis) they took 
part in. In cases of significant interactions, 
Bonferroni post hoc tests were utilized. 
The IBM SPSS 25.0 software package was 
used to perform data analysis and the level 
of statistical significance was set at .05. 
Furthermore, effect sizes, with η
2
, were 
also utilized for data interpretation, 
following Cohen’s (1988) cut-offs (values 
≥ 0.14 are considered to show a practically 
significant effect). 
 
RESULTS 
 
The values of Cronbach’s α for the 
three SEES subscales were above .70 in 
both measurements (PWB= .83 and .85; 
PD= .71 and .76; Fatigue= .84 and .85 for 
pre-and post-test, respectively), revealing 
sufficient internal consistency. In Table 2, 
means and standard deviations of 
participants in GTD, gymnastics and tennis 
on the SEES subscales are presented. 
 
 
Table 2  
Descriptive statistics on SEES subscales, by group. 
  
 Greek traditional dance Tennis Gymnastics 
                                   Pre-test Post-test Pre-test Post-test Pre-test Post-test
Positive Well-Being 21.62 + 4.01 23.12 + 3.95 21.93 + 3.85 23.35 + 3.92 18.97 + 4.6 22.64 + 4.35 
Psychological Distress 6.71 + 3.64 5.93  + 3.40 6.66 + 3.00 6.58 +  3.45 7.55  + 3.58 6.10 + 3.40 
Fatigue 9.25 + 4.09 10.52 + 5.19 9.00 + 4.61 11.43 + 5.18 9.45 + 4.77 9.63 + 4.57 
 
 
 
             (a)                                          (b)                                        (c) 
 
Figure 1. Alterations to PWB (a), PD (b) and Fatigue (c) per group. 
 
 
Regarding PWB, the results showed a 
statistically significant interaction between 
group and time (F2,274=10.009, p<.001, 
η
2
=.068), and a statistically significant 
effect for both time (F1,274=90.71, p<.001, 
η
2
=.25) and group (F2,274=6.72, p<.005, 
η
2
=.047). According to Bonferroni tests, 
although in the pre-test the gymnastics 
group had lower PWB scores than the 
other two groups, in the post-test all groups 
had similar scores. Moreover, all groups 

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presented statistically significant 
improvements (p<.001) (Figure 1a).  
As far as PD is concerned, there was a 
statistically significant interaction between 
group and time (F2,274=3.72, p<.05, η
2
=.02) 
as well as significant main effect for time 
(F1,274=13.76, p<.001, η
2
=.05) but no for 
group (p= .52). Specifically, there was a 
statistically significant reduction in the PD 
of the participants in both gymnastics and 
GTD but not of those participating in 
tennis (Figure 1b). 
As regards Fatigue, there was a 
statistically significant interaction between 
group and time (F2,274=4.61, p<.05, 
η
2
=.033), and a significant main effect for 
time (F1,274=18.04, p<.001, η
2
=.06) but not 
for group (p= .52). Bonferroni tests 
revealed that, although in the pre-test the 
three groups had similar levels of fatigue, 
in the post-test there was a statistically 
significant difference between the 
gymnastics and the tennis group. 
Furthermore, both the TGD and the tennis 
group had higher fatigue scores in the post-
test compared to their pre-test scores; 
whereas the gymnastics group presented 
similar levels (Figure 1c). 
 
DISCUSSION 
 
The aim of the present study was to 
examine potential differences in the acute 
psychological responses of adults after 
different types of leisure-time PA 
(gymnastics, GTD, tennis). Provided the 
worrying levels of mental disorders 
nowadays and the potentiality of leisure-
time PA and physical exercise to positively 
contribute to the psychological well-being 
of people, research evidence about the 
type(s) of PA/exercise that could lead to 
optimal improvements seems beneficial for 
public health, helping people choose a 
useful PA/exercise that suits them.  
To begin with, our results revealed 
that, after a single session of gymnastics, 
GTD or tennis, the participants presented 
practically significant improvements in 
their positive well-being, thus supporting 
the claim that leisure-time PA and exercise 
offer psychological benefits for people 
(suggestively: Asztalos et al., 2009; Kull 
Ainsaar et al., 2012; Ohta et al., 2007; 
White et al., 2017). Nevertheless, in PD 
and Fatigue, changes did not reach 
practical significance (Cohen, 1988). 
Moreover, statistically significant 
differences were noticed among the three 
programmes in the SEES subscales, with 
gymnastics presenting the most optimal 
results. Specifically, the participants in 
gymnastics had the greatest improvement 
in positive well-being compared to those 
participating in the other two programmes. 
Furthermore, a reduction in psychological 
stress was noticed only in the data of those 
taking part in gymnastics and GTD but not 
in the participants in tennis. Finally, those 
who danced or played tennis felt 
significantly more tired in the post-test 
than the gymnastics trainees. Similarly, 
Genti et al. (2009), who investigated 
potential differences in the acute impact of 
three different programmes (aerobics; 
GTD; muscle strengthening with additional 
weights) on the mood of adult participants, 
found that aerobic gymnastics and GTD 
caused more positive mood changes than 
the muscular strengthening programme. 
Gymnastics, a popular, broad field of 
exercise, including various types, has been 
examined for its psychological benefits in 
several studies. In the present study, data 
of participants in Pilates and Zumba were 
gathered. Starting with Pilates, in a study 
by Fotiadi et al. (2017) it was revealed that 
one session of Pilates and yoga had equally 
significant impacts on reducing 
psychological stress and tension of 
trainees. Similarly, Domene et al. (2016) 
found that a lesson of either in Zumba or 
salsa dance conferred significant 
psychological benefits to physically 
inactive women. A higher acute 
psychological impact of Zumba and hip-
hop compared to body conditioning and ice 
skating in young adults was also revealed 
in a study by Kim and Kim (2007). 
Positive outcomes of other types of aerobic 

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gymnastics are also reported in literature. 
For example, both Charalampopoulos, 
Panagopoulou, Loukou, & Rokka, (2016), 
who focused on aqua aerobics, and 
Panagopoulou et al. (2016), who compared 
the effects of dance aerobics, step aerobics, 
and aqua aerobics, concluded that this kind 
of exercise improves the psychological 
health and well-being of the participants 
and reduces their psychological stress and 
fatigue. In their large-scale study with 
approximately 1.2 million participants, 
Chekroud et al. (2018) concluded that, 
although every type of physical exercise is 
better than no exercise, certain types are 
more strongly related to psychological 
benefits than others, with aerobic 
gymnastics, popular team sports, and 
cycling being among the most beneficial 
for both those with typical mental health 
and those diagnosed with depression. 
Additionally, Bartholomew et al. (2005) 
found that a single moderate-intensity 
aerobics lesson led to reductions in 
anxiety, confusion, fatigue, tension and 
anger and a significant increase in the 
well-being and self-confidence of 
participants receiving treatment for 
depressive disorder. Thus, our results 
confirm previous studies and reveal that 
gymnastics can serve as an effective means 
for the improvement of people’s 
psychological health.  
Regarding GTD, our findings are in 
agreement with previous studies that have 
showed significant improvements in both 
young adults’ mood state (Argiriadou & 
Mavrovouniotis, 2001, 2002) and old 
adults’ quality of life (Mavrovouniotis et 
al., 2010) after a single GTD session. It is 
furthermore known that dance triggers 
several positive feelings that reduce 
psychological burden (Adilogullari, 2014; 
Domene, Moir, Pummell, & Easton, 2014; 
Quiroga Murcia, Kreutz, Clift & Bongarg, 
2010; Payne, 2003; Steiner, 2003).  
Concerning tennis, to our knowledge 
there are no published studies that 
investigate the acute psychological effects 
of a single session; and the relevant 
literature regarding this type of exercise is 
quite limited. There is actually only one 
published study in which the impact of a 
13-week tennis programme on mental 
health was investigated; it revealed 
positive results regarding stress and 
depression, especially in young athletes 
(Yazici et al., 2016). Nevertheless, in the 
present study, tennis presented the poorest 
results compared to gymnastics and GTD. 
Although Groppel and DiNubile (2009) 
claim that the emotional stress that 
characterizes tennis forces the player to 
develop an effective stress-copying 
capacity, it seems that this perspective 
does not optimally work in recreational 
adult participants.  
A potential factor that contributed to 
the better scores achieved by the 
participants in gymnastics and GTD 
compared to tennis may be the use of 
music in these programmes. According to 
Boutcher and Trenske (1990), although the 
co-existence of both intrinsic and extrinsic 
information sources may impede the deep 
understanding of complex sport/dance 
skills, music seems to significantly reduce 
exercisers’ psychological distress. That is 
why Rejeski and Kenney (1988) advocate 
the use of music during any kind of 
physical exercise. Perhaps a pleasant music 
could help participants in tennis avoid 
focusing on their fatigue and feel better. 
GTD provides the participants with the 
opportunity for socializing 
(Mavrovouniotis et al., 2008); thus, one 
would expect that GTD participants would 
present more positive psychological 
responses than the other two groups, but 
this did not happen. As Chekroud et al. 
(2018) underline, all types of physical 
exercise, including social and non-social 
ones, associate with lower mental health 
burden.  
This study has some limitations that 
should be taken into account when 
interpreting its results. To begin with, the 
psychological responses of participants 
were recorded immediately upon 
completion of gymnastics, GTD and tennis 

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sessions. Follow-up tests that would have 
provided valuable information about the 
duration of the aforementioned positive 
impacts of the three progammes on the 
well-being of participants were not 
conducted. Moreover, although it is known 
that the duration of a session can influence 
the efficacy of a programme (Chekroud et 
al., 2018), in this study only 60-minute 
programmes were compared. Nevertheless, 
this study took place in naturalistic settings 
providing real-life data; it is the first study 
examining the acute effect of a recreational 
tennis programme and among the first 
comparing GTD with other programmes. 
Last but not least, in this study, three 
popular types of recreational PA/exercise 
that have different characteristics 
(gymnastics; dance; sport) were examined; 
thus, its findings can be helpful to people 
seeking different kinds of PA.  
In summary, a single session of 
gymnastics, GTD or tennis seems to 
trigger positive acute psychological 
responses in terms of participants well-
being. Gymnastics programmes appear to 
associate with the most optimal 
improvements, followed by GTD; whereas 
tennis presents the poorest results among 
the three leisure-time physical activities. 
Although further research is needed to 
fully understand the features of a 
PA/exercise that lead to the greatest boost 
in people’s well-being, taking into account 
the growing prevalence of mental health 
disorders in our society, encouraging 
adults to join a leisure-time PA/exercise 
programme seems imperative for their 
(psychological) health benefit.  
 
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Corresponding author: 
 
Fotini Venetsanou 
Associate Professor 
School of Physical Education and Sport 
Science, National and Kapodistrian 
University, Athens, Greece 
Ethnikis Antistasis 41, Dafni 17237, 
Greece 
e-mail: fvenetsanou@phed.uoa.gr 
 
 
 
 
Article received: 12.7.2020 
Article accepted: 27.10.2020