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The role of physical activity in life happiness of Greek drug abusers participating in a treatment program

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Abstract

Purpose

Exercise may offer a further opportunity to achieve pleasant conditions, without the use of substances or addiction supporting the promotion of a healthy lifestyle that is incompatible with the use of drugs. The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of physical activity on the degree of happiness among drug abusers in Greece.

Methods

Permission was asked from five Greek rehabilitation institutes and was granted from three of them. A total of 150 participants were approached, of whom only 73 finally filled in the questionnaires. To determine participants’ happiness with life, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) was used. The respondents’ physical activity intensity and frequency was measured with Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire. SPSS 20.0 for Windows was used for statistical analysis of the data gathered. Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) were conducted.

Results

As for the dimension of OHQ evaluating the happiness with life, the results showed that the respondents were only moderately happy. They also moderately exercise in terms of intensity and frequency. Regression analysis was performed with the OHQ dimension as the dependent variable and the respondents’ exercise intensity as the independent one. The analysis indicated that the exercise intensity did not predict the respondents’ happiness with life (p > 0.05). On the contrary, frequency of exercise slightly (24%) predicted the respondents’ happiness (F = 4.34, p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Results suggest that attendants of rehabilitation centers in Greece should be motivated to participate more frequently in exercise and recreation programs to somehow improve their happiness with their life.

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Acknowledgements

The team of authors wishes to thank the Research Director of the Central Institution of Drug Rehabilitation in Greece for his cooperation and help, and, of course, the participants in treatment programs, who agreed to fill in the questionnaires.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece

    Semina Nani, Ourania Matsouka & Efi Tsitskari

  2. Department of Health Sciences, School of Sciences, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Andreas Avgerinos

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  1. Semina Nani
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  2. Ourania Matsouka
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Correspondence to Semina Nani.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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All of the subjects provided written consent to participate in the study, after the study procedure and methods were explained to them.

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Nani, S., Matsouka, O., Tsitskari, E. et al. The role of physical activity in life happiness of Greek drug abusers participating in a treatment program. Sport Sci Health 13, 25–32 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11332-016-0345-2

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