This study examines the relationship between exercise adherence and several factors: self-motivation; attitudinal commitment; predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing (PER) factors; and barriers related to exercise. The sample (N=431) consists of employees at Texas Instruments, Incorporated in Dallas, Texas. The sample was placed into six comparison groups: high adherers, low adherers, nonparticipants who exercise, nonparticipants who do not exercise, dropouts who exercise and dropouts who do not exercise. Using a one-way ANOVA, the results show significance (p<.01) among the groups for: self-motivation and barriers. Attitudinal commitment and PER factors did not show significance. The results can be applied to worksite health programs to increase exercise adherence among employee populations.

Physical activity, defined as bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure, has many known mental and physical health benefits for older adults. However, as of 2008, only 22.6% of older adults in the United States reported meeting recommended physical activity guidelines. This dissertation examines the role of the built and social environment on physical activity among older adults, with particular focus on physical disorder, or the visual indications of neighborhood deterioration. All empirical analyses use data from the New York City Neighborhood and Mental Health in the Elderly Study (NYCNAMES-II), a three-wave longitudinal study of about 3,500 older adults living in New York City. We first systematically review the existing literature concerning physical disorder as an influence on physical activity among adults of all ages. We find that most prior studies of disorder and activity have been cross-sectional and that disorder has not consistently been associated with less activity across all studies. However, we also find indications that older adults’ activity levels may be more negatively impacted by disorder than younger adults’ activity levels. Next, we use a longitudinal analysis to estimate the association between neighborhood disorder and total physical activity among the NYCNAMES-II cohort. In multivariable mixed regression models accounting for individual and neighborhood factors, for missing data, and for loss to follow-up, we find that each standard deviation increase in neighborhood disorder was associated with an estimated 3.0 units (95% CI: 1.9, 4.2) lower PASE score at baseline, or the equivalent of about 10 minutes of walking per day. There was no significant interaction between physical disorder and changes in PASE score over two years of follow-up. We next apply a latent transition analysis to identify patterns of types of physical activity the same cohort, identifying seven latent classes of activity. Of these seven classes, three pairs of classes were roughly equivalent except for participation in exercise. About three quarters of subjects remained within each latent class between waves; most transitions that did occur were between classes defined by exercise to the parallel class without exercise or vice-versa. More neighborhood disorder was modestly associated with moving out of a sports and recreation class (Relative Risk = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.00, 1.61 between waves 1 and 2, Relative Risk = 1.28, 95% CI = 0.85, 1.93 between waves 2 and 3). Finally, we develop the Neighborhood Environment-Wide Association Study (NE-WAS), an agnostic approach to systematically explore the plethora of neighborhood measures available to modern researchers equipped with geographic information systems (GIS) software. We find that only neighborhood socioeconomic status and disorder measures were associated with total activity and gardening, whereas a broader range of measures was associated with walking. Substantively, we conclude that more physical disorder was associated with less physical activity, potentially due to decreases in sports and recreation among those living amidst physical disorder, though latent transition analysis estimates were too imprecise to rule out chance. Future longitudinal research on physical disorder as an influence on physical activity would benefit from longer periods of follow-up in which more subjects moved between neighborhoods. Methodologically, the NE-WAS approach appears to be a promising way to systematize neighborhood research as the scale of available spatially located administrative data continues to grow. Future NE-WASes might profitably focus on comparing the spatial scale of neighborhood measures.

published_or_final_version / Sports Science / Master / Master of Science in Sports Science

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The purpose of this investigation was to compare associative and dissociative psychological strategies of attentional focus for their effects on self - report ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and heart rate during endurance exercise. Trained cyclists (n = 7) performed three 60 minute experimental rides on a bicycle ergometer which consisted of an association ride (attention focused on heart rate feedback), a dissociation ride (attention focused on responding to a cue word on a videotape), and a control condition ride in which focus of attention was not purposely manipulated. Results indicated that the deliberate application of a cognitive strategy designed to encourage an individual to associate or dissociate did not differentially effect either actual efficiency (heart rate) or perception of exercise intensity (RPE scores). Overall, it was concluded that there was a trend for the dissociation condition to result in higher RPE scores than the association condition or control condition. / School of Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between self-motivation and action control (decision implementation) as dispositional determinants of adherence to exercise programs at a worksite setting. Past studies have shown self-motivation to be a good measure of individual difference between those who persist in exercise behavior and those who do not. Theorists have suggested that individuals with a high action orientation are more likely to maintain and enact their intentions than those with a high state orientation. This study attempted to objectively test the theories by determining whether or not "regular" exercisers are more likely to demonstrate a high action control orientation and /or self-motivation than "irregular" exercisers. An attempt was also made to determine whether or not action control might be a stronger exercise adherence predictor than self-motivation.Eighty five hospital employees who were members of the wellness center at Ball Memorial Hospital, completed a demographic questionnaire, the Self-Motivation Inventory, and the Action Control Scale. Correlational analysis data indicated "regular" exercisers were more likely to demonstrate self-motivation than "irregular" exercisers. However, multiple regression analysis indicated that neither action control nor self-motivation accounted for more than 7% of the total variance. Further study is recommended. / Institute for Wellness

A limited amount of research has been conducted on college students' physical activity levels. According to the 1996 Surgeon General's Report, only one fourth of young adults regularly exercise vigorously. Therefore, there is a need to develop effective exercise intervention programs for young adult populations. There has been no previous research using the variables of outcome expectancy value, exercise role identity, and self-regulation skills. The purpose of the study was to describe the relationship among self-regulation skills, outcome expectancy value, and exercise role identity as predictors of exercise levels. Subjects (n=1 83) represented a convenient sample of students from Personal Health classes at Ball State University. All subjects completed a four-part questionnaire divided into: self-regulation, outcome expectancy value, exercise role identity, and seven day recall. Results revealed that selfregulation and exercise role identity were predictors of vigorous activity, but not moderate activity. Outcome expectancy value was not significantly correlated with any of the dependent variables, except for male vigorous days. This study further support self-regulation and exercise role identity as predictors of physical activity. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

The investigation of youths' exercise attitudes and behaviors has been heavily researched. This study's focus was unique in that exercise attitudes and behaviors of academically accelerated and non-accelerated high school students were examined. Academic ability and sex were considered as possible influences toward physical activity attitudes and as potential predictor variables of exercise behaviors. The Revised CATPA inventory and the Attitudes Toward Exercise scale assessed subjects' exercise attitudes. A modified 7-Day Recall of Physical Activity measured the amount of time subjects spent exercising in the previous week. Results showed higher mean Revised CATPA scores for the academically accelerated and male subjects, while the ATE scores were higher among academically non-accelerated and female students. Results on the activity recall suggested that males were more physically active. A multiple regression analysis showed predictor variables of exercise. Future research ideas are discussed on differing academic groups. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The present investigation involved the development of a psychobiologic profile of individuals who experience exercise-related mood-enhancement and those who do not. The sample (N=301) consisted of students participating in 10-week exercise classes at North Texas State University. All subjects completed pre-test inventories assessing various psychological (i.e., trait anxiety and depression, attitude toward physical activity, self-estimation of physical ability and attraction to physical activity, expectancies of health benefits from exercise, and self-motivation) and biological (i.e., aerobic capacity and body fat percentage) variables. Trait anxiety and depression were also assessed before and after the 10-week exercise program and state anxiety and depression were assessed on an acute basis on two separate occasions during the program. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis were employed to determine which variables maximally discriminated between individuals who experienced mood-elevations following exercise and those who did not enjoy such rewards. The hypothesis that these two groups of individuals differ significantly from each other was not upheld by the results; thus, an overall psychobiologic profile could not be developed. However, the data did reveal that individuals who held a more positive attitude toward physical activity for the purpose of health and fitness reduced their state anxiety and depression following exercise significantly more than individuals who held more neutral attitudes. The results also confirmed previous research that individuals initially high in trait anxiety and depression showed a significantly greater decrease in these traits than subjects scoring in the low-moderate range at the outset of the exercise class. Recommendations for future research are discussed.