Effects of Weight Training on the Emotional Well-Being and Body Image of Females: Predictors of Greatest Benefit

Abstract

Background. This study was conducted to determine the extent to which participation in a weight training intervention was associated with changes in the emotional well-being and body image of females compared to non-weight trainers. An ancillary objective was to study the extent to which psychological, physical, and demographic factors accounted for changes in emotional well-being and body image. Methods. The experimental group consisted of 60 females, and a comparison group was comprised of 92 females. Experimental subjects participated in a 15-week, two-day-per-week weight training intervention, while subjects in the comparison group did not participate in any weight training activities. Subjects were pre- and posttested on the General Well-Being Schedule and the Body Cathexis Scale. Experimental subjects were also tested in muscular strength and three skinfold measurements. Results. With pretest scores controlled, the weight trainers had significantly higher General Well-Being and Body Cathexis posttest scores than the comparison group. Weight trainers also showed significant increases in muscular strength, and significant decreases in skinfold thickness. Four variables predicted 38.8% of the variance of those who improved most in General Well-Being: lower pretest General Well-Being, lower parental income, greater loss of body weight, and lower posttest skinfold. Five variables predicted 61.5% of the variance of those women who improved most in Body Cathexis: lower pretest Body Cathexis, greater body weight at the outset, shorter in height, less involvement in non-weight training exercise, and lower posttest skinfold. Discussion. Cause-and-effect conclusions are not warranted given the use of intact groups, and the long-term effect of weight training on the emotional well-being of women was not discernible given the 15-week length of this study.