psychology of physical activity

Question 1

what is exercise psychology?

Answer 1

• The application of psychology to health enhancing physical activity and exercise
  ○ Work within the general public
  Have less motivation to participate in physical activity

Question 2

how is weight control a reason for exercising?

Answer 2

○ improves weight control and appearance. Obesity and physical inactivity primary risk factors for coronary heart disease so exercise may eliminate inactivity as risk factor.
○ Self-presentational – exercise typically results in enhancing physical appearance and improving muscularity  positive self- presentation strongly influenced by aesthetic ideal physique.

Question 3

why is reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases a reason for exercising?

Answer 3

○ Although we do not know the exact dose-response relationship
§ We don’t know how much physical activity is required to reduce the risk of CV diseases
○ Regular exercise prevents/delays development of high blood pressure
○ Reduces blood pressure in people with hypertension (risk factor in coronary heart disease)

Question 4

why is reduction in stress and depression a reason for exercise?

Answer 4

○ Regular exercise associated with improved sense of well-being & mental health
○ Effective with to cope with anxiety disorders and depression
§ Wipfli et al. (2008) review 49 studies revealed greater reductions in anxiety for exercise groups than for groups receiving other forms of anxiety reduction treatments

Question 5

why is enjoyment a reason for exercising?

Answer 5

○ Start for health  rare to continue if they don’t enjoy
§ Fun, happiness, satisfaction (Titze, et al., 2005)
§ Autonomous- intrinsic motivation

Question 6

what are the physiological considerations for why people exercise?

Answer 6

1. Enhancement of self-esteem
   ○ Associated with increase self-esteem and self-confidence (Buckworth & Dishman, 2002) satisfaction from accomplishment
   ○ Hoped-for-self of older adults (staying healthy and independent) related to increases in exercise behaviour
   § Actual Self= How we are right now (how we look)
   § Feared Self= something we don’t wont to be
   § Ought Self= how society thinks we should be
   § Hoped-for Self= how you hope you will be when you get older
2. Opportunities to Socialise
   ○ Meet people, fight loneliness and shed social isolation

Question 7

what are the benefits of physical activty?

Answer 7

• A very good treatment for physiological and psychological conditions.
  
  • Weight Control
  • Reduced cardiovascular disease, hypertension, risk of some cancers
  • Reduced stress / anxiety and depression
  • Enhanced self-esteem
  • increased enjoyment, quality of life, mood state
• Opportunities to socialise

Question 8

what are the physical activity guidelines?

Answer 8

• first introduced in 1996, updated 2004 and 2011 and more recently 2019.
  
  • Offers recommendations for volume duration, frequency and type of PA that individuals should do.
  • Evidence based PA guideline
    ○ despite this public knowledge of key parts of guideline is limited.
  • Knox et al (2013)
    ○ 1724 adults. 18% (310) able to recall guidelines for moderate to vigorous activity (i.e. aerobic guidelines 150 mins per week)
    § Limited number of people able to identify how long exercise should last
  • Hunter et al. (2014)
    ○ 4653 adults. 8.4% (390) correctly identified moderate to vigorous activity from list of 17 options.
    § Very few people know what it is
  • Physical activity guidelines:
    ○ Volume, frequency and type of physical activity
    ○ Evidence based

at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week
at least 75 minutes of vigorous intensity per week

Question 9

what did the national institute of health and care excellence (2015) say about physical acitivty in the environment?

Answer 9

• 34% men and 42% women reported not meeting guidelines on physical
  activity
  
  • Number of people meeting the recommended levels decreases with age
  • 23% boys and 20% girls (aged 5-15 years)
  • 10% boys and 9% girls (aged 2-4 years)
    ^ Meet guidelines on physical activity for their age group
    If children aren’t reaching recommendations for their age group, then they will not reach the guidlines when they are adults either.

Question 10

what are the reasons for not exercising?

Answer 10

• Despite social, health & personal benefits  people still choose not to exercise
  
  • Reasons (Tobi et al., 2012) in adults
    ○ Perceived lack of time (may actually have time but don’t think they do)
    § Preplanning and prioritising things
    ○ Lack of energy
    ○ Lack of motivation
    ^^^All factors individuals can control, as opposed to environmental factors (often out of their control)
    Consistent with research (Kelley & Kelley, 2012) showing that the major reasons for attrition in an exercise program were internal and personally controllable causes (e.g., lack of motivation, time management), which are amenable to change.

Question 11

WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR OMITING EXERCISING ACCORIDING TO A POPULATION-BASED STUDY BY NETZ ET AL (2008)?

Answer 11

• Population study – 2200 individuals (age 18-78)
  ○ Really broad range of attributions for omitting exercise- does it differ across the lifespan.
  ○ Important age and gender differences
  
  • Older adults (60-78 years)
    ○ More health related reasons (e.g. bad health, injury or disability, potential damage to
    health) - if not physically active as a younger person, physical activity may be daunting.
    § Takes longer to recover from getting hurt- injury may e debilitation, take away independence.
    § Seems counterintuitive.
    ○ Selected more Internal barriers (e.g. not the sporty type) than situational (e.g. I don’t have energy)
    § Women selected more internal barriers (e.g., lack of self-discipline)
    □ Because internal barriers are not easily amenable, this poses a difficult problem regarding adherence to exercise programs for these women.
    □ Takes a lot to change due to being personal to individuals.
  • Adolescents & College students major barriers
    ○ Similar to older adults (e.g. lack of time)
    § Perceive themselves to be too busy
    ○ Parents more interested in academic success
    § More pressure to do well in school so study more than play sports
    ○ Previous physical inactivity
    ○ Siblings non participation in PA
    § Parents or siblings don’t participate
    ○ Being female/ male
    § Harassment, judgement etc.
    Partaking in physical activity can be just as difficult as males- society says there is a particular physique (self-consciousness)

Question 12

what is sedentary behaviour?

Answer 12

• Studying exercise behaviour and ways to increase adherence.
  
  • More recently – Sedentary Behaviour (total lack of exercise)
  • “Sitting Time”
    ○ E.g. sitting at work or school, sitting in a car, sitting while watching TV, sitting at a computer
    Classify exercise on a continuum of low to moderate to vigorous.

Question 13

according to a systematic review by Tremblay et al (2011) what are sedentary behaviours?

Answer 13

• Systematic review of young people 5 to 17 years old (Tremblay, et al., 2011)
  ○ decreased fitness, lower self esteem, decreased academic achievement, higher (less favourable) body composition, and lower prosocial behaviour.

Question 14

according to Edwardson et al., 2012; Proper, et al., 2011 what are sedentary behaviours in adults?

Answer 14

highest sedentary group had a 73% increased risk of metabolic syndrome (diabetes, CV diseases) compared to those in the lowest sedentary group. Increased sedentary behaviour was related to increased cardiovascular disease.

Question 15

what are the inventions to sendetary behaviour?

Answer 15

• Interventions developed to reduce sedentary behaviour in both youth and adults (more research with young children)
  
  • Include:
    ○ Goal setting
    ○ Pre planning
    Positive reinforcement

Question 16

what are the problems with initial adherence to exercise?

Answer 16

• Adherence – attached to or ‘sticking with’ something
  
  • Prescriptions often based solely on fitness data, (for age, gender etc.)
    ○ ignoring psychological readiness to exercise.
    § Are you actually ready? Do you want to partake in physical activity?
  • Most exercise prescriptions overly restrictive and not optimal for enhancing motivation for regular exercise.
    ○ Higher autonomy- more intrinsically motivated
  • Rigid exercise prescriptions based on principles of intensity, duration, and frequency
    ○ Too challenging for many people, especially beginners.
    ○ Not capable of the exercises.
    ○ If rigid prescription around where they could be- lack of autonomy.
    ○ Promote competence- keep people going.
  • Traditional exercise prescription does not promote self-responsibility or empower people to make long- term behaviour change
    ○ Don’t promote self-responsibility and empowerment
  • Initial inertia.

Question 17

what is the solution to the adherence problem?

Answer 17

• Solution to adherence problem
  ○ Set several smaller goals that build towards main goal
  ○ HOWEVER – changing behaviour is a complex process
  Difficult to change behaviour

Question 18

what is the health belief model?

Answer 18

• Enduring model
  ○ Cost-benefit of partaking in exercise
  
  • Attempts to explain and predict health behaviours
  • Focus on attitudes and beliefs of individuals
  • Based on following
    ○ Individual desire to avoid illness or get well in case of current illness
    Individual believes that an exact health act might avoid or treat illness
  • Perceived health threat= how serious an illness is
    ○ How susceptible the individual is to getting an illness
  • Cost-benefit of taking part= will I get the outcome I want (far outweigh the cons)
  • Health motivation= are we actually going to address the problem
    Consider cues (environmental situational factors that prompt us into performance)

refer to the lecture notes for the full diagram

Question 19

what is the definition and application of the concept percieved susceptibility:

Answer 19

definition: ones opintion of chnaces of getting a condition
application: definie population(s) at risk, risk levels; personalise risk based on a person’s features or behaviour; heightene percieved susceptibility if too low.

Question 20

what is the definition and application of percieved severity?

Answer 20

definition: one’s opinion of how serios a condition is and what its consequences are
application: specify consequences of the risk and the condition

Question 21

what is the definition and application of percieved beneifts?

Answer 21

defintion: one’s belief in the efficacy of the advised action to reduce risk or seriousness of impact.
application: define action to take: how, where, when; clarify the positive effects to be expected

Question 22

what is the defintion and application of percieved barriers?

Answer 22

definition: one’s opinion of the tangiible and psychological costs of the advised action
application: identify and reduce barriers throughreassurance, incentives, assistance.

Question 23

what is the defnition and application of cues to action?

Answer 23

definition: strategies to activate “readiness”
application: provide how-to info, promote awareness, reminders

Question 24

what is the defintion and application of self-efficacy?

Answer 24

definition: confidence in one’s ability to take action
application: provide training, guidance in performaing action

Question 25

what is the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen & Madden, 1986)?

Answer 25

• Extension of theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980)
  
  • Individual performance of a given behaviour is primarily determined by a person’s intention to perform that behaviour
  • Cant just rely on intention- have to use other components.
    ○ Think about perceived behaviour control.
  • Assumptions:
    ○ Human behaviour under the voluntary control of the individual
    ○ People think about the consequences and implications of their actions behaviour then decide whether or not to do something
    ○ Therefore intention must be highly correlated with behaviour
    ○ Whether or not a person intends to perform a health behaviour should correlate with whether or not they actually do the behaviour

Question 26

what is the theory of reasoned action?

Answer 26

• Behavioural intentions are best predictors of behaviour.
  ○ E.G. intending to exercise (behavioural intention) can lead to going to the gym (behaviour). In turn behaviour intentions are influenced by:
  
  • If we want individual to engage in a behaviour, they have to have intention to take part
  • Intention is a driving force behind behaviour

Question 27

what is the component of attitudes towards act or behaviour in the theory of reasoned action?

Answer 27

what will we gain from the behaviour
If I partake will I get what I want

Question 28

within the theory of planned behaviour, how does percieved behaviour control lead to intention and behaviour?

Answer 28

self-efficacy leads to intentions
controllability leads to behaviour

Question 29

what is percieved behavioural control?

Answer 29

that is, people’s perceptions of their ability to perform the behaviour—will also affect behavioural outcomes
Has to be understood as well- all about perception (must include perceive

Question 30

what is the main idea behind the theory of planned behaviour?

Answer 30

Intentions cannot be the sole predictors of behaviour Especially in situation which people lack some control over the behaviour

Question 31

what is significant about the effect sizes in the theory of planned behaviour?

Answer 31

percieved behavioural control has the highest effect size so can rely on intentions (to complete a behaviour)

Question 32

what is the transtheoretical model (Prochaska et al., 1992)?

Answer 32

• Argues individuals progress through stages of change and that movement across the stages is cyclic rather than linear because many people do not succeed in their efforts to establish and maintain lifestyle changes
  
  • This model argues that interventions and information need to be tailored to match the particular stage an individual is in at the time.

Question 33

at which stage do peope enter the transtheoretical model?

Answer 33

• precontemplation

Question 34

what are the stages of change model in the transthoretical model?

in order

Answer 34

precontemplation
contemplation
determination
action
relapse
maintenance

Question 35

what is significant about the transtheoretical model?

Answer 35

says that participation is a cyclical structre and that they can enter and leave the cycle at any stage.

Question 36

what is the pre-contemplation stasge of the transtheoretical model?

Answer 36

○ Not thinking about changing their behaviour
○ Do not intend start exercising in next 6 months
§ Can be detrimental to push at this stage
○ Demoralised about ability to change
○ Defensive because of social pressures
Uninformed about long-term consequences of their behaviour

Question 37

what is the prepatation stage of the transtheoretical model?

Answer 37

○ Exercising somewhat (little, minimal)
§ Perhaps fewer than 3 times a week
§ Not regular enough to produce major benefits
§ Have plan of action
□ Taken action to make behavioural changes
Has been a start

Question 38

what is the action stage of the transthoeretical model?

Answer 38

○ Exercise regularly (3 or more times a week for 20 mins longer)
○ Been doing fewer than 6 months
○ In stage where physical activity has gone up but are still new to it
○ Last stable stage- risk of relapse is highest
§ tends to correspond with highest risk relapse (easily fall back into old ways)
Try to keep them going

Question 39

what is the maintenance stage of the transtheoretical model?

Answer 39

○ Exercising regularly more than 6 months
○ Likely to maintain regular exercise
§ Likely to keep going
§ Problems - Boredom or loss of focus
□ Same exercise being repeated- repetitive, enjoyment has gone
○ Increase SE to overcome barriers (Fallon et al., 2005)
§ Important to get to maintenance
□ Can over come barriers at this stage
○ People more intrinsically motivated then extrinsically motivated (Buckworth, et al., 2007)
§ Do it because they want to/ they enjoy it
○ Getting to the point where exercise is becoming part of their daily routine
Keeping in this stage is really good.

Question 40

what is the termination stage of the transtheoretical model?

Answer 40

○ Stayed in the termination stage for 5 years, the individual is considered to have exited from the cycle of change, and relapse simply does not occur.
§ Relapse is very miniscule
§ More likely to keep going
○ study of 550+ participants (Cardinal, 1997), 16% indicated that they were in termination stage (criteria of 5 or more years of continuous involvement in physical activity and 100% self- efficacy in an ability to remain physically active for life).
§ concluded that individuals in termination stage are resistant to relapse despite common barriers to exercise such as lack of time, no energy, low motivation, and bad weather.

Question 41

what did the meta-analysys by Marshall & Biddle (2001) find out?

Answer 41

○ Pros increase for every forward stage and that the largest change occurs between the pre-contemplative and contemplative stages.
○ Cons decreased for every forward stage.
○ Consistent with research (e.g. Landry & Solmon, 2004)- motives for exercise became more internal as participants progressed through stages.
○ Help individuals who are contemplating exercise realise benefits of exercise (i.e. ,become more intrinsically motivated) to help them move from precontemplation to contemplation to preparation.

Question 42

what is the goal and intervention of the pre-contemplation stage?

Answer 42

goal:
to make inacivity a relevant issue and to start thinking about being active

interventions:
* provide info about the risks of being inactive and the benefits of being active
* provide info from multiple sources (e.g.: news, posters). info is more effective from multimedia sources than from family and friends.
* make inactivty a relevant issue.

Question 43

what is the goal and interventions for contemplation?

Answer 43

goal:
to get involved in some type of activity
interventions:
* provide opportunities to ask a lot of questions and to express apprehensions.
* provide info about exercise in general.
* provide info about different types of activity options, fitness facilities, programs, and classes.
* provide cues for actions, such as passes to nearby facilities and invitations to facility open houses, tours, or info sessions.

Question 44

what are the goals and interventions of the preparation stage?

Answer 44

goal:
regular physical activity participation

interventions:
* provide the oppiortunity to be active
* provide a lot of support, feedback, and reinforcment.
* provide clients the opportunity to express their concerns and triumphs.
* introduce different types of exercise activities to find something they enjoy.
* help create support groups of similar people whp are also adopting exercise programs.

Question 45

what is the goal and intervention of the action stage?

Answer 45

goal: maintain regular physical activity.

interventions:
* provide continued support and feedback
* identify things and events that are potential barriers to adherence.
* identify high-risk individuals and situations.
* educate clients about the liklihood to replase and things that may trigger relapse.
* teach physical and psychological skills to deal with potential barriers.
* provide continuous opportunities to be active and a plan to maintain activity in the changing seasons, during vacation and through schedule changes.

Question 46

what are the goals and interventions of the maintenance stage?

Answer 46

goal: prevent relapse and maintain continued activity.

intervention: maintain social support from family and friends anf from eithing the exercise environemnt.
provide continued education about barrier identification
keep the exercise environment enjoyable and switch it up to fight boredom
create reward systems for continued adherence
identify early sighns of staleness to prevent burnout.

Question 47

what are the strategies for enhancing adherence?

Answer 47

• Exercise leaders influence the success of an exercise program, so they should be knowledgeable, give lots of feedback and praise, help participants set flexible goals, and show concern for safety and psychological comfort.
  
  • Behaviour Modification Approach
    ○ Prompts
  • Reinforcement Approaches
    ○ Feedback
  • Cognitive Behavioural Approaches
    Goal Setting

Question 48

what is the bheaviour modification approach?

Answer 48

• planned, systematic application of learning principles to the modification of behaviour
  
  • Behaviour modification approaches produced positive results
    associated with a 10% to 25% increase in the frequency of physical activity when compared with control groups (Buckworth & Dishman, 2007).

Question 49

what are prompts?

Answer 49

• A prompt is a cue that initiates a behaviour
  ○ GOAL: increase cues for the desired behaviour and decrease cues for competing behaviours.
  
  • E.g. posters, slogans, notes, placing exercise equipment in visible locations, recruiting social support, and performing exercise at the same time and place every day
    ○ Stairs vs lifts

Question 50

according to the following study: Promoting Stair Use Among Female Employees: The Effects of a Health Sign Followed by an E-mail (Auweele, et al., 2005)
what did they find about the usefulness of prompts?

Answer 50

Baseline: 69% to intervention 77%)

Additional email a week later (77% to 85%)

Removal of prompt- decline to around baseline (67%)

Fading?- maybe don’t take all prompts away at same time, maybe gradually removing them is more effective.
Increase self-management

Question 51

explain the importance of reinforcement?

Answer 51

• Feedback……..
  
  • Self-monitoring and Feedback
  • Keeping a record of a specified behaviour/outcome
    ○ Manual methods (hand written logs, electronic spreadsheets)
    ○ Wearable technology (GPS/sports watches, SMART watches)
    Is it a good or a bad thing?

Question 52

what are reinforcement approaches?

Answer 52

• Brickwood, et al. (2019) - review effects of interventions utilizing consumer-based wearable activity trackers on physical activity participation and sedentary behaviour.
  
  • Results: a significant increase in daily step count, moderate and vigorous physical activity, and energy expenditure. Nonsignificant decrease in sedentary behaviour following the intervention versus control
    ○ Has the potential to increase physical activity
  • Conclusions: Utilizing consumer-based wearable activity tracker as either primary component of intervention or as part of a broader physical activity intervention has potential to increase physical activity participation.

Question 53

what did Laranjo et al. (2021): Do smartphone applications and activity trackers increase physical activity in adults? Systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression
find?

Answer 53

• Smartphone apps/wearable trackers with automated self-monitoring of PA
  ○ 28 Randomised controlled trials in adults (18–65 years old: n = 7454)
  § Moderate increase in PA
  § Corresponding to 1850 steps/d

Question 54

what did the systematic review (carter et al., 2018) find?

Answer 54

• Systematic review
  ○ 15 studies using mobile health apps for PA tracking
  
  • POSITIVE OUTCOMES
    ○ Increased self-awareness of PA behaviour
    § Aware of if they are active or not
    ○ Allowed reflection on what/how to change
    § Can change behaviour easily
    ○ Motivation strengthened through prompts, goal setting, social features and gamification
    § Helps with motivating you to be more active
  • ADVERSE IMPACTS
    ○ Unmet goals led to discouragement, guilt, shame and stress
    § Self monitoring can do lots of harm physically and psychologcially
    Unhealthy preoccupation with checking data

Question 55

what is self-monitoring?

Answer 55

• Participants (n=100) wore a pedometer for a day
  
  1. control - info covered up, told to check if watch was comfy
  2. self-monitoring- several increments to check steps
  3. optional self-monitoring - if you want to you can, personal choice
     * Conclusion= self monitoring increases exercise by reduces enjoyment (making it feel like work) at the same time

Question 56

what are cognitive behavioural approached to exercise?

Answer 56

• Goal Setting
  
  • Martin and Colleagues (1984)
    ○ Exercise goals most often reported– increasing cardio fitness (28%), toning/strengthen muscles (18%), losing weight (13%)
    ○ Goals with actions plans for reaching goals–bringing fitness clothes to school/work (25%), attending exercise class regularly (16%), organising time/work around fitness (9%)
  • Relate this to goal-setting lecture: same interventions can be used.

Question 57

what are thge gudelines for improving exercise adherence?

Answer 57

• Match intervention to stage of change
  ○ Need to find out what works for the individual we are working with
  ○ Match intervention to the individual.
  
  • Provide cues (signs, posters, etc)
  • Make exercise enjoyable
  • Tailor intensity, duration, frequency
  • Promote exercising with group/friend
  • Have participants sign a contract/statement of intent to comply with exercise program.
  • Have participants reward themselves for achieving certain goals.
  • Encourage goals to be self-set, flexible, and time based (rather than distance based).
  • Have participants complete a decision balance sheet before starting the exercise program.
  • Obtain social support from the participant’s spouse, family members, and peers.
  • Suggest keeping daily exercise logs. Practice time management skills.
  • Help participants choose a purposeful physical activity.
  • Offer a choice of activities.
  • Provide rewards for attendance and participation.
  • Give individualized feedback.
  • Find a convenient place for exercising.