A Single Session of Beach Tennis with Recreational Athletes Improves Anxiety Symptoms in Women but Not in Men: A Randomized Trial

João Victor Rosa de Freitas, Bráulio Evangelista de Lima, Rizia Rocha-Silva, Vinnycius Nunes de Oliveira, Thalles Guillarducci Costa, Mila Alves Matos Rodrigues, Rodrigo Luiz Vancini, Marília Santos Andrade, Gustavo de Conti Teixeira Costa, Lorenzo Laporta, Ricardo Borges Viana and Claudio Andre Barbosa de Lira ()
Additional contact information
João Victor Rosa de Freitas: Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia CEP 74690-900, Brazil
Bráulio Evangelista de Lima: Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia CEP 74690-900, Brazil
Rizia Rocha-Silva: Center for Teaching and Research Applied to Education, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia CEP 74690-900, Brazil
Vinnycius Nunes de Oliveira: Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia CEP 74690-900, Brazil
Thalles Guillarducci Costa: University Unit of Itumbiara, State University of Goiás, Itumbiara CEP 75536-100, Brazil
Mila Alves Matos Rodrigues: Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia CEP 74690-900, Brazil
Rodrigo Luiz Vancini: Department of Sports, Center for Physical Education and Sports, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória CEP 29075-010, Brazil
Marília Santos Andrade: Department of Physiology, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo CEP 04023-062, Brazil
Gustavo de Conti Teixeira Costa: Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia CEP 74690-900, Brazil
Lorenzo Laporta: Sports Performance Analysis Study Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria CEP 97105-900, Brazil
Ricardo Borges Viana: Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza CEP 60455-760, Brazil
Claudio Andre Barbosa de Lira: Faculty of Physical Education and Dance, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia CEP 74690-900, Brazil

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 22, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Introduction: Beach tennis has become a popular sport, but research on its mental health benefits is scarce. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have examined the effects of beach tennis on anxiety symptoms. Objectives: To assess the effect of a single session of beach tennis, in both singles and doubles modes, on anxiety symptoms. Methods: Twenty-two recreational players (11 women, age: 35.00 [13.50] years) were evaluated. Each participant underwent three intervention sessions in random order: one-on-one match (singles), two-on-two match (doubles), and a control session (non-exercise). State anxiety and affective responses were measured before and after each intervention. Results: For men, no significant interaction between time and session was found ( p = 0.646). In women, there was a significant interaction between time and session ( p = 0.002). Anxiety symptoms significantly decreased from pre- to post-singles condition ( p = 0.007) and from pre- to post-doubles condition ( p = 0.010). A significant difference was observed between the post-singles and post-control conditions ( p = 0.002). Conclusion: Beach tennis demonstrated an anxiolytic effect in women, with significant reductions in anxiety symptoms following both singles and doubles sessions. However, no such effects were observed in men. These findings suggest that beach tennis could be a viable intervention for managing anxiety symptoms in women. The study was registered in the Brazilian Clinical Trials Registry (registration code: U1111-1293-7949).

Keywords: beach tennis; mental health; physical exercise; racket sports (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/1/38/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/1/38/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2024:i:1:p:38-:d:1556890

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().