Daniel R. Czech

Influence of age, sex, and race on college students' exercise motivation of physical activity.

Abstract Objective: The authors examined differences in exercise motivation between age, sex, and race for college students. Participants: Students from 156 sections of physical activity classes at a midsize university were recruited (n = 2,199; 1,081 men, 1,118 women) in 2005–2006 and volunteered to complete the Exercise Motivation Inventory. Methods: Quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive research design was employed. Results: Significant differences were found in 3 of 14 exercise motivational subscales by age (affiliation, health pressures, and ill health avoidance) (p < .05). Males were motivated by intrinsic factors (strength, competition, and challenge) (p < .05) and females by extrinsic factors (ie, weight management and appearance) (p < .05); only 2 subscales proved not to be significant by sex. Race differences provided 8 significant differences by exercise motivations (p < .05). Conclusions: Significant differences for exercise motivations in college-aged population by demographics were documented. Understanding these differences is important for college health professionals for programming strategies and promoting physical activity.

A reformulation of the moderating effects of productive humor

Abstract The ability to effectively cope with stress has been demonstrated to be an important factor in warding off potential physical disease and psychological distress. Responses to stressful events have been shown to greatly vary across individuals. Research has shown that intervening variables, such as cognitive appraisals of stressful events, can markedly affect the amount of stress (e.g., mood disturbance, anxiety, changes in neurotransmitter concentrations, suppression of immune system functioning) individuals experience. One such intervening variable, productive humor, was hypothesized to have a positive stress-moderating effect. Four different experimental conditions were used to assess the impact of a stressful situation on mood and anxiety state. Two conditions had subjects produce a humorous narrative in response to the stressful situation. One of these conditions included an instructional video on the use of productive humor. A third condition had subjects produce an intellectual narrative, while a fourth condition had subjects produce no narrative. The humorous narrative conditions were hypothesized to lead to the greatest moderation in stress (i.e., mood and anxiety). In the humorous narrative (without training) condition, subjects who were more successful at producing the narratives showed significantly more moderated changes in mood and anxiety levels pre-task to post-task. These changes were not significantly different from the intellectual or no narrative conditions. The significant difference found between high versus low humorous narrative producers may be accounted for in terms of success versus non-success at completing the experimental task. Finally, among subjects with initially high pre-task mood or anxiety levels and high tendencies to use productive humor, successful performance of some type of a verbal, cognitive task (i.e., humorous or intellectual narrative) was found to be more beneficial in moderating the effects of stress versus silence. These latter findings were based on patterns of results from post hoc analyses with small sample sizes, thus suggesting the need for future research along similar lines.

An Examination of Euro-American and African-American Differences in Social Physique Anxiety among College Women:

Many studies have examined sex differences in social physique anxiety; however, few researchers have examined possible perceptual differences in such anxiety based on ethnicity. The present purpose was to examine social physique anxiety among college-age women of Euro-American and African-American descent. Participants (N = 91) from physical activity classes at a university located in the southeastern United States completed the Social Physique Anxiety Scale. The participants were 67 Euro-Americans and 24 African Americans. An independent t test yielded a significant difference (p = .01) between groups on Eklunds scale, which supports the hypothesis.

Using a MG-M Imagery Intervention to Enhance the Sport Competence of Young Special Olympics Athletes

Abstract Opportunities for athletes with an intellectual disability (ID) to participate in sport are limited by physical and psychosocial barriers. Sport psychology interventions may be able to address these barriers, namely the lack of sport competence that athletes with an ID experience. This study sought to enhance sport competence among athletes with an ID using personalized motivational general-mastery (MG-M) imagery scripts. The six-week study assessed the imagery use, imagery ability, and sport competence of five Special Olympians (Mage=11.40) who had ID’s including autism, a mild intellectual disability, and a moderate intellectual disability. Three of five participants demonstrated improvements in sport competence through the intervention, with two of those three maintaining these changes upon withdrawal of the intervention. Effect sizes suggested that scores became more stable during the intervention for three of five participants. Implications of the current study emphasize the feasibility of conducting research with this special population of athletes. Additionally, this study identifies the relevant modifications for mental skills training with individuals who have an ID. Results suggest that imagery use, ability, and sport competence can be improved with individualized imagery training among athletes with an ID.