Peter R. Giacobbi

Relationship between exercise dependence symptoms and personality

Despite the increased interest in exercise dependence, there is limited research examining the personality characteristics of exercise dependent individuals. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between personality and primary exercise dependence symptoms. Participants were 390 university students who completed multidimensional assessments of personality, exercise dependence, and exercise behavior. To examine the predictive relationship of personality for exercise dependence symptoms hierarchical regressions with forced block entry were undertaken. In Block 1, exercise dependence was regressed on exercise behavior. In Block 2, the personality subscales (neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness) were entered into the regression. It was found that extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness predicted exercise dependence symptoms. Further examining the relationship between personality and exercise dependence symptoms may aid in identifying at-risk individuals.

Even more about exercise imagery: a grounded theory of exercise imagery.

This study sought to determine the content and function that regular exercisers ascribe to their use of exercise imagery. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 female participants. Using the analytic strategies of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), a research team performed inductive analysis that revealed the following eight higher order themes: exercise technique, aerobic routines, exercise context, appearance images, competitive outcomes, fitness/health outcomes, emotions/feelings associated with exercise, and exercise self-efficacy. Several participants revealed that the content of their mental images concerned making progress towards important goals related to their physical appearance. The participantsi quotations also indicated that appearance and fitness outcome imagery had important implications for sustaining their exercise behavior. Consistent with the recommendations of Sparkes (1998), exemplar quotations from the participants were presented to illuminate the emergent themes. From these results, practical recommendations were presented to help exercise practitioners increase the motivation and self-efficacy of exercise participants. Mental imagery is an important part of many aspects of life including developing language, enhancing motivation, learning motor skills, and improving sport performance (Feltz & Landers,

The Internal Structure of Positive and Negative Affect: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the PANAS:

This study tested five confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) models of the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) to provide validity evidence based on its internal structure. A sample of 223 club sport athletes indicated their emotions during the past week. Results revealed that an orthogonal two-factor CFA model, specifying error correlations according to Zevon and Tellegen’s mood content categories, provided the best fit to our data. In addition, parameter estimates for this model suggest that PANAS scores are reliable and explain large proportions of item variance. Taken together with previous research, the findings further suggest that the PANAS may be a higher-order measure of affect and includes several consistently problematic items. The authors recommend that affect researchers attempt to improve the PANAS by (a) revising consistently problematic items, (b) adding new items to better capture mood content categories, and (c) providing additional internal structure validity evidence through a diagonally weighted least squares estimation of a second-order PANAS CFA model.

Broken clubs and expletives: the sources of stress and coping responses of skilled and moderately skilled golfers.

There has been a large growth of sport psychology stress/coping research in the last decade. However, skilled and moderately skilled golfers have not received much research attention. Therefore, the purposes of this qualitative, descriptive study were to assess the sources of stress and coping responses of skilled and moderately skilled golfers with regard to performance related stress. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 golfers who played a minimum of 10 rounds of golf during the current golf season. Using the analytic strategies described by Côté, Salmela, Baria, and Russell (1993) and Lincoln and Guba (1985), a research team performed an inductive analysis that resulted in the emergence of the following coping strategies: cognitive strategies, relaxation techniques, off course efforts, golf course strategies, avoidance coping, and emotion-focused coping. The results are discussed in terms of current coping research in sport and applied implications are offered.

Methodological challenges confronting researchers of wheeled mobility aids and other assistive technologies.

Purpose. To identify gaps in assistive technology (AT) research and solutions, with a focus on wheeled mobility. Methods. Literature review. Results. AT researchers have identified a need to move beyond determining whether a device works well in the laboratory or is perceived favorably by users. The vital next step in AT research is to determine the effects of AT when used for day-to-day activities by typical consumers. Four challenges affect AT research on everyday mobility: the heterogeneity of the population using AT, the environments in which AT is used, and the devices themselves; the dependency of empirical research on objective data for valid causal inference; the need for detailed information to capture the interaction between the person, the device, and the environment in which it is used; and the extent to which success or failure of AT is dependent on the personal perspectives of the individual using the device. These challenges are being addressed by AT researchers through use of new measures, novel data collection methods, and by linking quantitative with qualitative data. Conclusions. AT researchers are adapting traditional research designs and analytic methods to examine that effects of AT on everyday life.

Exercise and sleep in community‐dwelling older adults: evidence for a reciprocal relationship

Exercise behaviour and sleep are both important health indicators that demonstrate significant decreases with age, and remain modifiable well into later life. The current investigation examined both the chronic and acute relationships between exercise behaviour and self‐reported sleep in older adults through a secondary analysis of a clinical trial of a lifestyle intervention. Seventy‐nine community‐dwelling, initially sedentary, older adults (mean age = 63.58 years, SD = 8.66 years) completed daily home‐based assessments of exercise behaviour and sleep using daily diary methodology. Assessments were collected weekly and continued for 18 consecutive weeks. Multilevel models revealed a small positive chronic (between‐person mean‐level) association between exercise and wake time after sleep onset, and a small positive acute (within‐person, day‐to‐day) association between exercise and general sleep quality rating. The within‐person exercise and general sleep quality rating relationship was found to be reciprocal (i.e. sleep quality also predicted subsequent exercise behaviour). As such, it appears exercise and sleep are dynamically related in older adults. Efforts to intervene on either sleep or exercise in late‐life would be wise to take the other into account. Light exposure, temperature regulation and mood may be potential mechanisms of action through which exercise can impact sleep in older adults.

A multilevel examination of exercise intention and behavior during pregnancy.

Research examining exercising in pregnancy is limited by non-theoretical and cross-sectional assessments that fail to capture the specific physical and psychological demands of the pregnancy trimesters. Drawing on a population in Gainesville, Florida, USA we prospectively examined, within a multilevel design, 61 pregnant womens first and second trimester exercise intention and behavior, and the potential moderating effect of past exercise behavior using the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Significant cross-sectional associations were found with exercise intention, although the only significant longitudinal effect was the relation between first trimester intention and second trimester changes in exercise behavior. Implications of our findings for study design and exercise intervention development during pregnancy are discussed.

Exploring Behavioral Markers of Long-Term Physical Activity Maintenance A Case Study of System Identification Modeling Within a Behavioral Intervention

Efficacious interventions to promote long-term maintenance of physical activity are not well understood. Engineers have developed methods to create dynamical system models for modeling idiographic (i.e., within-person) relationships within systems. In behavioral research, dynamical systems modeling may assist in decomposing intervention effects and identifying key behavioral patterns that may foster behavioral maintenance. The Active Adult Mentoring Program was a 16-week randomized controlled trial of a group-based, peer-delivered physical activity intervention targeting older adults. Time-intensive (i.e., daily) physical activity reports were collected throughout the intervention. We explored differential patterns of behavior among participants who received the active intervention (N = 34; 88% women, 64.1 ± 8.3 years of age) and either maintained 150 minutes/week of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA; n = 10) or did not (n = 24) at 18 months following the intervention period. We used dynamical systems modeling to explore whether key intervention components (i.e., self-monitoring, access to an exercise facility, behavioral initiation training, behavioral maintenance training) and theoretically plausible behavioral covariates (i.e., indoor vs. outdoor activity) predicted differential patterns of behavior among maintainers and nonmaintainers. We found that maintainers took longer to reach a steady-state of MVPA. At week 10 of the intervention, nonmaintainers began to drop whereas maintainers increased MVPA. Self-monitoring, behavioral initiation training, percentage of outdoor activity, and behavioral maintenance training, but not access to an exercise facility, were key variables that explained patterns of change among maintainers. Future studies should be conducted to systematically explore these concepts within a priori idiographic (i.e., N-of-1) experimental designs.

Further Refinements in the Measurement of Exercise Imagery: The Exercise Imagery Inventory

The factorial and construct validity of the Exercise Imagery Inventory (EII) were assessed with 3 separate samples of participants. In Phase 1, a 41-item measure was administered to 504 undergraduate students. Exploratory factor analysis supported a 4-factor model that explained 65% of the variance. In Phase 2, a 19-item measure was administered to a sample of 509 individuals to assess 4- and 5-factor models. During Phase 3, 724 participants completed the EII, the Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (Godin & Shephard, 1985), and the Barriers Self-Efficacy Scale (McAuley, 1992) to further test the factor structure of the EII and correlations with exercise-related constructs. Our results supported a 4-factor model to explain the latent structure of the 19-item scale. The 4 exercise imagery factors were labeled Appearance- Health imagery, Exercise Technique, Exercise Self-efficacy, and Exercise Feelings. The EII subscales were positively correlated with exercise behavior and exercise self-efficacy.

Eating disorders and exercise: A structural equation modelling analysis of a conceptual model

OBJECTIVE Despite the well-established health benefits of physical activity, the role of exercise for eating disorders (ED) is controversial; thus dictating a need for a better understanding of the mechanisms of exercise and ED. The purpose of our study was to examine a conceptual model that hypothesizes regular exercise without psychological compulsion might impart beneficial effects for preventing and treating ED. METHOD University students (N = 539) completed self-report assessments of quality of life, exercise level, ED risk and exercise dependence symptoms. Structural equation modelling analysis was undertaken to examine the conceptual models proposed relationships. RESULTS Mediation analysis and model comparison tests showed that the partially mediated model without the physical well-being latent construct fit the data best. DISCUSSION Our results provided initial support for the conceptual model by showing that the psychological benefits, but not the physical benefits, conveyed by exercise were associated with reduced ED risk.