Psychometric evaluation and validation of the Hungarian version of the Physical Activity Affect Scale (PAAS-H)

Abstract

Background: Feelings and emotions during sports and exercise determine commitment, adherence, and enjoyment of the activity. The Physical Activity Affect Scale (PAAS) combined two earlier instruments, the Exercise-Induced Feelings Inventory and the Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale, to investigate affective states generally characterizing post-exercise feelings based on the circumplex model of affect. Therefore, the PAAS measures positive affect, negative affect, fatigue, and tranquility on a five-point Likert scale having only 12 items. Aim: Its ease of administration and interpretation renders the PAAS a valuable tool in both research and practice, but it is unavailable to Hungarian scholars and sports and exercise professionals due to the lack of adaptation. Hence, this work aimed to develop and validate the Hungarian version of the PAAS. Methods: Three hundred sixty-two recreational exercisers (64.1% women), aged from 18 to 62 (mean of age: 27.0 [SD = 10.0]) years completed the questionnaires before and during their exercise (briefly interrupting activity). Measures: PAAS was used to measure positive affect, negative affect, fatigue and tranquility aspects of internal affective experience. Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was utilized to assess the actual mood state, consisting of positive affect and negative affect subscales. Arousal was measured with Felt Arousal Scale (FAS), while the pleasure–displeasure affective valence was assessed with the Feeling Scale (FS). Results: A confirmatory factor analysis indicated good fit of the four-factor model. The results also revealed configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance between sexes. The internal reliabilities of the scales varied between (Cronbach’s α) .73 and .85 before and during exercise. PAAS scales largely showed the expected associations with other measures of positive and negative affect and activation. The lowest association was between Tranquility (PAAS) and Felt arousal (r = .14), followed by Tranquility and Feeling (r = .27). Feeling and Felt arousal correlated negatively with Fatigue (PAAS, r = –.42 and r = –.44), as well as with the Negative affect (PAAS, r = –.61 and r = –.40). Positive affect from PAAS (PAAS PA) had a positive correlation with Feeling and Felt arousal (r = .64, r = .54). PAAS PA and Positive affect from PANAS (PANAS PA) correlated strongly (r = .77), similar to the Negative affect from both inventories (r = .78; p < .01 for all cases). Conclusion: Therefore, the Hungarian PAAS could assess exercise-induced affect in a reliable and valid way in recreational exercisers. However, its validity in competitive sports remains to be tested.