Jon Hammermeister

Life Without TV? Cultivation Theory and Psychosocial Health Characteristics of Television-Free Individuals and Their Television-Viewing Counterparts

Much attention has been paid to the amount of time Americans spend watching television. Cultivation theory has been important in exploring behavioral effects of television viewing for many years. However, psychosocial health has received much less scrutiny in relation to television viewing time. This investigation examined the hypotheses that television-free individuals and viewers adhering to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations (up to 2 hr of viewing per day) would display a more positive psychosocial health profile when compared with more frequent television viewers. Results confirmed the hypothesis for women, but not for men. Our analysis showed that moderate television viewing, as defined by the AAP, provides a similar relation with psychosocial health as being television-free. Results are discussed in a cultivation theory framework.

Does Spirituality Make a Difference? Psychosocial and Health-Related Characteristics of Spiritual Well-Being

Abstract This investigation examined the relationship among differing levels of spiritual well-being and 11 psychosocial and health-related characteristics. This study assessed the hypothesis that spiritual health is a powerful contributor to overall health. Participants were 462 college students at two separate colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Results revealed that those subjects scoring higher on the measure of spiritual health displayed better outcomes on psychosocial measures such as loneliness, self-esteem, and hopelessness. Alcohol and drug use were also significant discriminators between the high and the low spiritual well-being groups. Results of this study suggest that spiritual well-being interventions may be useful to address a variety of adverse health indicators in a college student population.

Building the better mental training mousetrap: is periodization a more systematic approach to promoting performance excellence?

Over the past two decades, mental skills training (MST) has experienced a tremendous surge in popularity, yet MST is not without its critics, including some athletes and coaches. Additionally, a number of concerns have arisen about mental training effectiveness, and its ability to maximize athlete development, performance, and peaking. Periodization is a systematic program development and implementation strategy that holds promise for enhancing mental training effectiveness and combating some of the problems currently limiting MST interventions. Thus, the purpose of this conceptual paper was threefold. First, periodization concepts are introduced by demonstrating how they are utilized to systematically guide physical training. Second, strategies to adapt periodization concepts to enhance mental training programs are examined, along with techniques to integrate physical and mental training, including: mental training tool and skill periodization plans and mental training drill menus. Finally, a case study is presented to illustrate how an integrated approach to periodized training that targets both physical and mental skill development can enhance the effectiveness of MST while minimizing implementation problems.

Muscle Dysmorphia Symptoms and Their Relationships to Self-concept and Negative Affect Among College Recreational Exercisers

This study explored the nature of the relationship between muscle dysmorphia symptoms and self-concept as well as negative affect variables. Female (n = 183) and male (n = 103) college students completed a packet of questionnaires. Data were analyzed using canonical correlation analyses and revealed significant relationships between the sets of variables. Specifically, the variance explained by muscle dysmorphia symptoms in self-concept and negative affect variables was greater than the variance explained in muscle dysmorphia symptoms by self-concept and negative affect. Perceived body attractiveness and social physique anxiety were the individual variables that predominantly contributed to the multivariate relationships.

Psychosocial and Health-Related Characteristics of Religious Well-Being

This investigation examined the relationship between religious well-being and eight psychosocial and health-related characteristics. This study assessed the hypothesis that religious well-being is related to overall health. Participants were 462 college students at two separate colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Analysis showed those subjects scoring higher on the measure of religious well-being scored lower on indices like loneliness and hopelessness and higher on self-esteem. Alcohol and drug use also differed significantly between the high and the low religious well-being groups.

Mental skills training with basic combat training soldiers: A group-randomized trial.

Cognitive skills training has been linked to greater skills, self-efficacy, and performance. Although research in a variety of organizational settings has demonstrated training efficacy, few studies have assessed cognitive skills training using rigorous, longitudinal, randomized trials with active controls. The present study examined cognitive skills training in a high-risk occupation by randomizing 48 platoons (N = 2,432 soldiers) in basic combat training to either (a) mental skills training or (b) an active comparison condition (military history). Surveys were conducted at baseline and 3 times across the 10-week course. Multilevel mixed-effects models revealed that soldiers in the mental skills training condition reported greater use of a range of cognitive skills and increased confidence relative to those in the control condition. Soldiers in the mental skills training condition also performed better on obstacle course events, rappelling, physical fitness, and initial weapons qualification scores, although effects were generally moderated by gender and previous experience. Overall, effects were small; however, given the rigor of the design, the findings clearly contribute to the broader literature by providing supporting evidence that cognitive training skills can enhance performance in occupational and sports settings. Future research should address gender and experience to determine the need for targeting such training appropriately.

More Cheers and Fewer Tears: Examining the Impact of Competitive Engineering on Scoring and Attrition in Youth Flag Football

Competitive engineering (CE) is a structurally-based competitive climate process designed to create more positive youth sport experiences. CE uses four implementation strategies (i.e., modifying sport structure, rules, facilities and equipment) in order to attain four athlete engagement goals (i.e., increase action and scoring, enhance personal involvement, keep scores close and maintain positive social relationships) designed to enhance intrinsic motivation outcomes. This exploratory study provided a preliminary test of CE by developing solutions to an existing attrition problem confronting a flag football league, with the specific purpose being to assess the effectiveness of a delayed-rush rule and a junior football equipment modification on scoring and attrition. Participants were 47 players who competed in a 3rd/4th grade flag football league and completed a short survey following the season. Results revealed scoring increased over 100% and attrition decreased by more than 50% compared to the previous season. Player survey data supported the rule and equipment modifications and their ability to minimize physicality and injury concerns and promote scoring opportunities.

Occupational Physical Activity as an Indicator of Health and Fitness

Recent government guidelines suggest that simply increasing physical activity, regardless of mode, leads to improved health profiles. This study examined the relationship between amount of work-related physical activity of United States Forest Service (USFS) workers and 12 indicators of health and fitness. Subjects were 110 USFS workers recruited from 8 separate USFS ranger stations in the Pacific Northwest. The associations between work-related physical activity and indicators of health and fitness indicated the 63 workers who were physically active on the job displayed better overall health and fitness patterns as evidenced by higher aerobic capacity, lower body fat, and greater muscular flexibility than their 47 inactive peers.

Competitive engineering: structural climate modifications to enhance youth athletes' competitive experience.

Competitive engineering (CE) is a structural-based approach to changing the competitive environment of youth sports to provide more nurturing competitive experiences. Thus, in youth sport, CE attempts to enhance a variety of psychosocial outcomes by making systematic changes to the competitive environment in which athletes perform. A working CE model is presented that employs four CE strategies (i.e., modifying structure, rules, facilities and equipment) to promote athlete engagement goals based on athlete-directed sandlot sport principles (i.e., increasing action and scoring, keeping scores close, enhancing personal involvement, and maintaining positive social relationships) in order to attain intrinsic motivation outcomes, particularly competence, autonomy, relatedness and Flow while promoting an autonomy supportive climate. Discussion focuses on how the CE model can best promote research and intervention to enhance competitive climates in order to promote better sport experiences for all youngsters.

Psychosocial, behavioral, and biometric characteristics of stages of exercise adoption.

This study incorporates the Stages of Change model to examine the relationship between the stages of exercise adoption and indicators of health and fitness. Subjects were 198 United States Forest Service (USFS) workers recruited from 8 USFS ranger stations in the Pacific Northwest. Analysis indicated that those subjects in Action and Maintenance stages of exercise adoption differed significantly from those in Preparation and Precontemplation/Contemplation stages on a variety of indicators of both health and fitness. Also, interesting differences were noted among the physically inactive stages, e.g., Preparation stage subjects showed lower triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, and higher HDL cholesterol compared with subjects in the Precontemplation/Contemplation stage. Progressing to the Preparation stage, where the individual remains inactive but is aware of the problem and has begun to make small changes, is associated with a differing (more positive) health profile in this study compared to those in the Precontemplation/Contemplation stage. These results imply that simply advancing in stage can have a variety of health benefits.