No description available.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine whether wellness management students would have higher levels of wellness than students who are not studying wellness, and (b) to determine if the results of the Stages of Change measurement questionnaire would correlate positively with the results of a standardized wellness measurement questionnaire. The first issue was examined by comparing total wellness levels of wellness management graduate students with total wellness levels of nonwellness management graduate students, as measured by the Testwell Wellness Inventory. There was no statistical difference between the two groups. This suggests that wellness students may not be effective models in their chosen field. The second issue was examined by testing whether the Stages of Change measurement questionnaire would correlate positively with the Testwell total wellness score. Study results showed that if students scored high in wellness, they would score in a high Stages of Change category. This suggests that the Stages of Change questionnaire may be used to measure readiness for general lifestyle behavior change. / Fisher Institute for Wellness

Universities are challenged by the goal of providing opportunities for student development in residence halls. One popular approach is based on wellness and, to date, no formal assessment of this approach had been completed.This study assessed the current status of wellness residence halls (WRHs) to summarize trends. A self-designed questionnaire was sent to residence life departments who were identified as having WRHs. The survey focused on program size, budget size/source, programming model, and staffing. Participants were asked to indicate departments which supported WRHs, what made WRHs unique, the relative success of their WRHs and what inhibited or contributed to that success.This instrument collected useful demographic data related to WRH programs; however, there were no discernible patterns indicative of a homogenous WRH movement (as special interest halls) taking place in this country. It is seemingly the commitment of staff and students which guarantees the success of wellness residence halls. / Fisher Institute for Wellness

The purpose of the study was to examine the status of and perceived barriers to physical activity of Ball State University students. Using a cross-sectional survey design, participants (N = 858) completed a self-report, 27-item questionnaire. Data were analyzed using univariate and bivariate analyses.The results indicated that the participants of this study have exceeded the Healthy People 2010 physical activity objectives for leisure-time physical activity and vigorous physical activity as well as the Health Campus 2010 objective for moderate and vigorous physical activity combined. Commonly reported barriers to physical activity were other priorities, lack of time, too tired, the weather, and other barriers. Being male, living in university housing, being an athlete, and being enrolled in a health-related academic major were all positively associated with participants' vigorous physical activity. Being female, living in university housing, commuting to Muncie, and being a full-time student were all positively associated with participants' increased barriers to physical activity. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

Poor sleep quality can lead to physical illness as well as cognitive and emotional impairment (National Sleep Foundation, 2011). Previous research on sleep hygiene and sleep interventions has resulted in mixed and relatively weak findings, indicating a need for a better understanding of the causes of sleep habits. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) has been used to predict intentions and behavior in many health-­related domains. The purpose of the current study is to determine if obtaining 7-8 hours of sleep nightly can be predicted from the TPB model. Participants engaged in a weeklong recording of their sleep habits as measured by sleep diaries and actigraphy. The TPB predicted 63% of the variability in intentions to obtain 7-8 hours of sleep. Intentions predicted 18% and 14% of the variability in sleep diary and actigraph sleep duration, respectively. For both sleep diary and actigraphy measures, perceived behavioral control predicted approximately 9% of additional variability in sleep duration beyond intentions. / Department of Psychological Science

As increasing numbers of learning disabled (LD) students attend postsecondary institutions (McGuire, Norlander, & Shaw, 1990; Saracoglu, Minden, & Wilchesky, 1989), researchers and clinicians contend that these college students display a disproportionate amount of psychological distress as compared to their non-LD peers (Faigel, 1985; Kronick, 1976; Patton & Polloway, 1982). The LD college student's propensity to experience emotional distress has been attributed to the stressful nature of the college environment, the demands of coursework, and unresolved psychological and psychosocial conflicts from childhood and adolescence. This paper explored the contention that LD college students are at risk for developing emotional problems which may affect their chances of experiencing success both in academia and in their personal lives.This study included a sample of 40 learning disabled college freshmen and 46 non-learning disabled college freshmen from four state universities in Indiana. Due to the nature of the research questions, only multivariate statistics were included. Multivariate analysis of variance results from the MMPI-2 validity and clinical, supplementary, and content scales indicated that there were no general differences in adjustment between the LD and non-LD samples. However, cluster analyses which were based on MMPI-2 clinical and validity scale T-scores, supported the notion that there were varying levels of emotional adjustment among the college learningdisabled students.One cluster of learning disabled students, (LD cluster 2), exhibited a propensity to experience psychological difficulties, and they appeared to be undergoing distress at the time of testing. Students from this at-risk LD cluster also reported many more personal, familial, and academic problems in their past. In comparison to students from the well-functioning LD cluster, those in the at-risk group indicated being diagnosed with their learning disability much later in their schooling; consequently, they also reported receiving fewer opportunities to receive help for their difficulties.The author suggests that, although these findings are preliminary, it appears that some learning disabled college students may be at-risk for experiencing personal distress and, perhaps, academic failure. It is recommended that the MMPI2, along with other psychologically-based instruments be used with this population as a possible way of identifying college students who may be in need of receiving psychological support. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

General relationships between the proposed risk factors of perfectionism, body dissatisfaction, depression, and interoceptive awareness and the presence of bulimic symptoms were examined in this study. Interactions between these risk factors presented by previous theoretical models were also explored through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis. A sample consisting of 200 female undergraduate students completed the following measures: The Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and the Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses (Q-EDD). Taken together, the proposed risk factors of perfectionism, body dissatisfaction, depression, and interoceptive awareness were found to make a difference in predicting the presence of eating disorder symptoms. Body dissatisfaction served as the strongest predictor of bulimic symptoms in college women of all risk factors tested in this study. Direct relationships between perfectionism and depression, depression and body dissatisfaction, and body dissatisfaction and bulimic symptoms were supported by the current study's data. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This project looked for differences in behavioral risk factors between Traditional and Non-Traditional students. The study was based on data collected from the 1993 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey administered to a sample of 290 Ball State University students by the Ball State University Institute for Wellness. Using the chi-square goodness-of-fit method, significant differences were found between the two groups on several risk factors. Using alpha=0.05, there were significant differences found for the following risk factors: hypertension, overweight, smoking, acute drinking, and no physical activity. No significant differences were found for the following: seatbelt use, chronic drinking, drinking and driving, sedentary lifestyle, and checking of cholesterol level. / Fisher Institute for Wellness

No description available.

Disorders of lifestyle are increasing globally; countries in transition are suffering the double burden of both contagious and chronic disorders. The utilization of health education to address these issues has had variable results, but the most successful have incorporated human contact. The aim of this study was to measure the quantitative and qualitative impact of a wellness promotion programme on university students. The objective was to provide a structured facilitated holistic wellness education programme to a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Higher Education in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Using a pragmatic mixed methodological approach to this critical evaluation, the impact on both wellness and academic progress was measured. Initial demographic data was gathered via a biographical questionnaire, pre- and post-intervention measurement of wellness, using the Wellness Questionnaire for Higher Education, as well as a semi-structured qualitative questionnaire and transcripts of academic results. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS analysis software and qualitative data using the NVivo analysis package. The findings were that all students improved throughout the year in their overall wellness scores, in particular in areas such as avoiding excessive sun exposure and increasing the amount of physical exercise. This corresponded with an increase in the value that the participants attached to information on these aspects of wellness, which was attributed to the programme. Results revealed that there was a weak correlation between student wellness measured at the year-end and academic success overall, but a strong correlation between student wellness and academic success for the students that gained the highest marks. Analysis of the dimensions of wellness that correlated best with student success revealed that there was a particularly strong correlation between year-end career wellness and year-end academic success. In conclusion it was found that a positive and holistic salutogenic wellness education programme increased levels of student wellness overall, which translated into student academic success. The link between wellness and success was particularly strong in students that gained higher marks. Recommendations include that first-year higher education students receive a positive wellness education programme built into the curriculum of their first year of study and that the overall impact be monitored across a broader spectrum of students over the duration of their diploma or degree programme.