Workplace wellness programs (WWP) were developed to support employees’ health behaviors and well-being. Although physical activity is incorporated into the definition of wellness and is a modifiable behavior that can both reduce the risk for chronic disease and lifestyle-related diseases and enhance health and well-being, performance of physical activity is often overlooked within WWP and the workplace in general. Rather than investigating organizational aspects of the WWP, this grounded theory-based study explored employees’ perceptions concerning how their organization facilitated their participation in physical activity within WWP. To provide a theoretical framework, Self-Determination Theory (SDT) from Ryan and Deci (2000) offered the lens to understand the employees’ motivation to participate in physical activity and Social Ecological Model (SEM) by Bronfenbrenner (1977) described the multiple levels of interaction between the employee and their organizational environment. The employees’ perceptions elucidated their decision-making process. The emergent themes were time management, advantageousness, need for movement, supervisor ambivalence, social / “gregarious” connection, messages from leadership, limited awareness, culture of health, and incentives and reimbursements. Three levels (individual, relational, and organizational) and three facets (barriers, bolsters, and facilitators) illustrated the relationships among these themes. These themes, levels, and facets are exemplified in the grounded theory model. Consequently, six implications for practice were illuminated for organizations to employ for encouraging their employees to join and actively participate in physical activity in the WWP and in the workplace in general, providing better health outcomes for employees and improving the organizations’ bottom line. / Kinesiology

In our sedentary society, physical inactivity has become the biggest public health concern of the 21st century. In addition to physical health promotion, physical activity has been associated with a number of positive psychological and social outcomes. Psychologists are well positioned to provide physical activity counseling and may have ethical obligations to address physical activity with their clients. Training the next generation of psychologists about the role of physical activity and health is critical to ensure best practices in graduate education. Researchers have cited insufficient training as a barrier to integrating physical activity into clinical work, yet little is known about effective training in physical activity counseling. One way to address these barriers is to employ an online-based training program allowing greater accessibility for doctoral psychology students across the United States. This exploratory study evaluated the effectiveness of a constructivist online interactive intervention, and compared it with a more traditional online content intervention and a control group, for enhancing doctoral psychology students’ self-efficacy in using physical activity counseling. It was hypothesized that 1) online interactive intervention would enhance self-efficacy, knowledge, and use of physical activity counseling compared to the online content intervention; and 2) both of these active treatments would yield improvements in physical activity counseling outcomes (e.g. self-efficacy, knowledge of health benefits of exercise, practice of physical activity counseling with clients, and personal level physical activity) compared with a control group. Results partially supported the original hypotheses. Mixed ANCOVA analyses indicated that participants in both intervention groups showed more self-efficacy at post-intervention assessment compared to their control group peers but the interactive intervention was not more effective than the content based intervention. Participants in the intervention groups demonstrated more targeted knowledge of physical activity counseling at post-intervention compared to their control group peers. No differences were found in the practice of physical activity counseling with clients post intervention. This study indicates there may be promise in using online platforms for enhancing physical activity counseling self-efficacy among psychologists in training. Future studies should continue to assess the effectiveness of physical activity counseling and refine training interventions to examine the effects of such interventions among the next generation of psychologists.

Objectives: The aim in this thesis has been to generate information relevant for strategic positioning and future evaluations within the scientific field of sport and exercise psychology. This has been done by request, and in collaboration with The Group of Sport and Exercise Psychology at the Institution of Psychology at the University of Umeå. Research questions:  (1) How does the cognitive structure within the field of sport and exercise psychology take shape with respect to research topics in current sport-psychological research, i.e. the research front? (2) How does the social structure within the field of sport and exercise psychology take shape with respect to formal scientific collaboration? Data: 879 articles published between 2008-2011 were used in this study. The population of articles were collected from a set of 5 core journals: International Journal of Sport Psychology, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, The Sport Psychologist, Psychology of Sport and Exercise. The original set was expanded by collecting relevant sport psychology articles from Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports and Journal of Sports Sciences. Methods: (1) The bibliometric indicator normalized bibliographic coupling combined with hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis was used for mapping the research front. With this approach articles are basically clustered with respect to shared refererences, which in this context is understood as a measure of topical similarity. (2)  For the mapping of social structures a collaboration analysis was performed by extracting and visualizing social networks based on the bibliometric indicator coauthorship.     Results: (1) Identification and classification of 80 clusters based on topical similarity in collaboration with a subject expert. (2) Providing a map of formal scientific collaborations between countries based on coauthorship. (3) Providing a map of social networks based on coauthorships between individual researchers. (4) Identification and contextualization of central researchers based on production within the visualized coauthor network. The publications of each researcher were traced to corresponding clusters in the research front to gain information about in which subject areas and topics these central researchers publish. (5) Identification of research groups with high coauthor values, i.e. high intensity in their formal collaboration. Furthermore the publications from these groups were connected to corresponding clusters, i.e. giving information about in which subject areas and topics these groups publish.

This research project is a narrative study on the use of chess as a therapeutic medium in a substance abuse rehabilitation centre. Stabilis Treatment Centre served as the rehabilitation centre where the data was collected and the therapeutic sessions conducted. In this research report I introduced Stabilis Treatment Centre by exploring and providing an overview of their existing programmes. I have stated the research problem and the subsequent research question and goals. A literature review is included where information with regards to drug abuse, exercise psychology and the use of chess in various contexts is provided. The research methodology is examined and narrative practice is introduced and explored. The three participants in this research project are introduced and their experiences of playing chess are explored and extended to their experiences of life and relevant situations. This process is documented in letter format where I as researcher wrote letters to each participant reflecting on their experiences of using chess to narrate their personal narratives. This research project concludes where I summarize the results of this study as well as providing recommendations for future studies. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

This research report is a narrative on my encounter with sport psychology. I used the metaphors of “touring” and “journal” to guide the construction of this narrative. Before embarking on my tour with sport psychology, I introduced myself as researcher (chapter 2, journal entry I) and stated the research problem, question and goal(s)(chapter 3, journal entry II). I then went on a tour with sport psychology. I visited a sport psychology museum to learn more about the history of sport psychology (chapter 4, journal entry III) and a sport psychology library to learn more about the field of sport psychology (chapter 5, journal entry IV). I also attended a sport psychology conference to become better acquainted with postgraduate sport psychology training in Psychology Departments (chapter 6, journal entry V). I also visited a sport psychology department at a university in Australia, to witness the delivery of a postgraduate training programme in sport psychology (chapter 7, journal entry VI), as well as a sport centre in South Africa and a sport institute in Australia, to see how and the extent to which sport psychology was practised (chapter 8, journal entry VII). After my tour with sport psychology I took what I had learnt and adapted the MA (Counselling Psychology) programme at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. This led to the programme having three core modules and two elective modules. The core modules are fundamental psychology, counselling psychology and career psychology. The elective modules are: community psychology and sport psychology. The sport psychology module consists of the following courses: sport psychology, sport management, sport sociology and exercise psychology. The Professional Board of Psychology at the Health Professions Council of South Africa approved this module at the end of 2003 (chapter 9, journal entry VIII). Finally, I also looked at the influence of my experience with sport psychology on my identity as a psychologist (chapter 10, journal entry IX). / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

<div> <div> <div> <p>The current study examines the relationships between frequency of yoga practice and outcomes of self-compassion, couple satisfaction, and family functioning. Yoga and other forms of Eastern medicine have become increasingly popular in Western culture. Not only has yoga become more appealing to the general population, it has also become more widely accepted and has been more frequently integrated into various mental health treatments. Using a cross-sectional design, this study analyzed data from an online questionnaire regarding systemic outcomes of yoga participants (N = 115). A three-step hierarchical regression analysis was completed to test significance between predictor and outcome variables. The results showed a significant relationship between social reason for practicing yoga and family functioning. This study indicates that families who practice yoga together may have healthier family functioning. The results highlight the potential of yoga as a therapeutic intervention for clinicians working with families.<br> </p> </div> </div> </div>

Objective: Dog owners have been shown to walk more per week compared to non-dog owners; however, 60% of dog owners are still not walking their dogs at intensities sufficient to reap optimal health benefits. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a 9-week feasibility randomized controlled trial involving a program of six weekly scheduled instructor-led group dog walks supplemented with theory-based strategies to encourage increased dog walking among dog owners in Greater Victoria, BC. Methods: This study was based on the multi-process action control (M-PAC) framework and utilized an open parallel randomized controlled trial design involving experimental and waitlist-control group participants. Quantitative data was collected using pedometers and self-report measures. A program evaluation survey was administered upon the completion of the study. Primary outcomes examined the feasibility and acceptability of the program; secondary outcomes analyzed pedometry and self-report moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) data; and tertiary outcomes observed changes in participants’ perceptions of M-PAC constructs. Percentage calculations were used to obtain primary outcomes, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA; controlling for baseline) was performed to examine secondary and tertiary outcomes to explore the direction of effects and obtain a first estimate of expected effect sizes. Eligibility: Male and female adults aged 18+ living in Greater Victoria, BC, who owned at least one healthy and friendly dog aged six months and above, who were not meeting recommended guidelines of 150 minutes of MVPA per week, and who were medically cleared to participate. Results: Feasibility outcomes included 74 interested responses, 23% recruitment rate (n = 17), 94% retention rate (n = 16), and 94% adherence rate (n = 15). Program participants were overall (very) satisfied with the program – worksheets (62.5%), program instructor (100%), various program/group dog walks logistics (75% to 100%). Total weekly step counts and average daily step counts, MVPA dog walking, and MVPA with dog increased at the end of the program and at follow-up, resulting in large effect sizes when compared to the waitlist-control group. MVPA dog walking and total MVPA (with and without dog) exceeded recommended guidelines at follow-up. Positive changes across time were observed for dog responsibility and M-PAC constructs of affective judgments, opportunity, planning, identity, and habit, resulting in medium and large effect sizes when compared to the waitlist-control group. Conclusions: This six-week group dog walking program is overall feasible, acceptable, and efficacious in encouraging increased dog walking and MVPA among dog owners. Attendance at weekly scheduled instructor-led group dog walks and exposure to the M-PAC construct worksheets resulted in program participants’ adoption and maintenance of positive behavioral changes at the end of the program and at follow- up. Program participants reported enjoying the program and being (very) satisfied with it. It is recommended for future studies to refine/modify initial recruitment strategies and eligibility criteria, reimburse medical/veterinarian clearance costs to reduce cost-related barriers to participation, offer a variety of options for program delivery (e.g., different locations/schedules/seasons, online programs, multi-site study) to accommodate more participants, and apply the M-PAC framework to a larger sample. / Graduate