Questions to Measure Enjoyment of and Satisfaction With Physical Activity: Are They Appropriate for Use in an Older Population?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Enjoyment of and satisfaction with physical activity have been proposed as two actionable mechanisms to promote sustained engagement in physical activity. An accurate understanding of how, why, and for whom these two mechanisms work (or not) in response to a particular intervention strategy is contingent on having suitable measures for the population of interest. This study aims to determine whether the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale-8 and a novel approach to the measurement of satisfaction with physical activity are suitable for use among older adults (M(age) = 66.25 years; range = 55–91 years). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Participants answered an online questionnaire twice across 4 weeks. Measurement invariance was assessed within a structural equation modeling framework; convergent validity was assessed by correlating the latent variables enjoyment and satisfaction with each other and with physical activity behavior. RESULTS: Both measures were invariant between gender and across time. Enjoyment and satisfaction were related to each other (r = 0.72) and to physical activity (r = 0.48 and 0.64, respectively). DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Results support the suitability of these measures as tools to assess enjoyment of and satisfaction with physical activity among older adults.