Investigating College Students' Blood Pressure, Enjoyment, & Emotion In A Narrative And Non-narrative Exergaming

PURPOSE: Exergaming is an evolving field aiming to enhance psychological mechanisms to promote Physical Activity (PA). Though thus far there is little data supporting the integration of narrative approaches into exergaming to promote individuals’ involvement in PA. This study examined the acute effects of narrative exergaming college students’ blood pressure, enjoyment, and emotion as compared to non-narrative exergaming. Method: Participants were 49 college students [n = 25 female; Mage = 23.2, SD = 3.5 years] from a U.S. university who participated in two separate 20-minute exercise sessions in random order, using Nintendo Switch’s Let’s Get Fit (non-narrative) and Ring Fit Adventure (narrative) games. Participants’ enjoyment was assessed by the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale, and their mood and feelings were measured by the Exercise-induced Inventory and the Brunel Mood Scale (anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, tension, and vigor). Systolic (SBP) and Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) were obtained pre and post each session. Separate repeated measures of ANOVAs and post hoc tests were used to identify the mean differences of the study outcomes. Result: Significant main effects of exergame type were observed for vigor (F(1, 56) = 5.6, p < 0.05) and post-SBP (F(1, 104) = 7.2, p = 0.01). Our data showed non-narrative exergaming significantly increased vigor (95% CI [0.04, 0.5], p = 0.02), and post-SBP (95% CI [1.84, 12.5], p = 0.01). A significant interaction effect of gender and exergame type was observed for post-SBP (F(1, 104) = 4.2, p = 0.04), pre-SBP (F(1, 68.2) = 6.7, p = 0.01). Specifically, males showed higher post-SBP (95% CI [4.69, 20.6], p < 0.01), while female showed lower pre-SBP (95% CI [-12, 0.1], p = 0.05) in non-narrative exergaming. No other significant differences were identified. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed that non-narrative exergaming was linked to higher levels of vigor compared to narrative exergaming. Additionally, male participants exhibited higher post- SBP than female participants during non-narrative exergaming.