Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M Sport Sc (Sport Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study investigated the exercise preferences of female university students participating in exercise modes presented at the local gymnasium and their expectations of the outcomes of such participation. Secondly, the study aimed to determine the most important reason for their participation and whether this was satisfied by their choice of exercise mode. A third aim was to determine other reasons that contributed to the selection of exercise environment and mode. The size of the research group of the pilot study was 210 (n=210). For the final longitudinal study, over a period of three years, it was 985 (N=985). The study population was selected on a basis of convenient sampling, availability and interest among young female gymnasium members, (aged 18 to 27 years). Their participation was voluntary. Original questionnaires were constructed for the purpose of the study to provide general demographic and physical characteristic information of the participants, their exercise preference and choice of exercise mode, reasons for participation in particular exercise modes, time spent on physical activity, frequency of attendance of exercise sessions, exercise motivators, barriers to exercise, medication and supplementation prevalence, health problems and smoking. The questionnaire was completed in a five to 10 minute time slot before the commencement of exercise classes at the gymnasium. Information required on the questionnaire was verbally explained to the participants during the initial few minutes of data capturing. Guidance was given for each section of the questionnaire during the five to 10 minute period allocated for completion. Data was captured on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and the analysis was performed using Statistica for Windows (Statsoft SA-2008). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse and present the data. The results of the study indicated that most (34.4%) young female students who regularly attended group exercise sessions at the gymnasium preferred participating in the exercise modality punchline (a boxing aerobic modality), with the aim of losing weight (45%) and improving their general fitness (24%). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van die studie was om die oefenvoorkeure en oefenverwagtinge van jong damestudente wat gereeld by die plaaslike universiteitgimnasium oefen, vas te stel. Tweedens wou die studie die belangrikste redes vir deelname bepaal, en of hierdie verwagting gerealiseer het met die keuse van oefenmodaliteite in hierdie oefenomgewing. 'n Derde doel was om vas te stel watter ander redes 'n bydrae sou maak tot die keuse van 'n oefenomgewing en oefenmodaliteite. Die navorsingspopulasiegroep was jong dames in 'n universiteitsomgewing. Tydens die verkennende studie was die getal kandidate 210 (n=210). Vir die finale longitudinale studie, oor ’n tydperk van 3 jaar, was dit 985 (N=985). Die jong dames by die spesifieke universiteitgimnasium is geselekteer op grond van beskikbaarheid en belangstelling in die navorsing en was tussen die ouderdom van 18 en 27 jaar. Hul deelname was vrywillig. 'n Vraelys is spesiaal vir hierdie navorsing opgestel. Die vraelys het inligting ingewin oor algemene demografiese aspekte en fisieke kenmerke van die deelnemers, oefenvoorkeure en verwagtings van oefenmodaliteite, redes vir die seleksie en deelname in oefenmodaliteite, tyd bestee aan oefening, frekwensie van deelname, motiveerders vir oefening, beperkende faktore ten opsigte van gereelde deelname aan fisieke aktiwiteit, medikasie en supplementasie gebruik, gesondheidsprobleme en rook. Die vraelyste is voltooi in die eerste vyf tot 10 minute van oefenklasse, voor die aanvang van die gereelde gimnasiumprogram. Inligting op die vraelys is verbaal aan die teikengroep verduidelik in die eerste paar minute van elke klas. Tydens hierdie tydperk is gereeld inligting oor elke vraag verskaf vir kontrole en akkuraatheid van voltooiing van die vraelys. Data oor die veranderlikes is in die rekenaarprogram Microsoft Excel gekodeer en die statistiese ontleding is deur middel van Statistica vir Windows (Statsoft SA 2008) gedoen. Beskrywende data is gebruik om die resultate te ontleed en aan te bied.

This study reports the food habits of Vietnamese college women in association with college life and their cultural background. Their food habits, food associated beliefs, and the influences on their food choices were examined. Interviews, using semi-structured questionnaire, were conducted with 25 Vietnamese college women at Oregon State University. The questionnaire included general and particular food consumption, cooking/eating out practices, and food associated beliefs. The busy schedules of the Vietnamese college students in college life greatly influenced their food choices. They preferred eating the same foods as before college, which were mainly Vietnamese foods. However, they also considered convenience for their food choices since they did not have enough time and/or skills to prepare and eat meals. Generally they kept eating Vietnamese foods, such as rice and Vietnamese flavored dishes; however, they increased eating easy to prepare food, such as pasta, sandwiches, and fast foods in college life, which were not often eaten with their families before college. All of them had rice cookers, chopsticks, and fish sauce, that are substantial for a Vietnamese diet. Their preference of eating Vietnamese foods led to their unique meal patterns. They tended to adjust mealtime in order to eat Vietnamese foods at home and avoided eating meals on campus. Instead, the high frequency of snack consumption was reported. They had strong beliefs that Vietnamese foods were healthy. The Vietnamese foods, which consisted of rice, a wide variety of vegetables, and small amount of meat, tend to be low in fat. It led to avoidance of commercialized low-fat and low-calorie foods. The Vietnamese diet was also believed to be a balanced diet. This was associated with the small credibility of a vegetarian diet in spite of the fact that they considered vegetables played an important role in their diets. Generally they were comfortable to keep eating Vietnamese foods because of their health concerns, as well as their taste preferences. In college life, they consumed some foods that were not Vietnamese and not often eaten with their families before. However, it could be temporary mainly because of their busy schedules. They preferred to eat the same foods as before, if their schedule allowed, and they considered that Vietnamese foods should be eaten as their real meals. / Graduation date: 1999

A preventative intervention program was administered to a non-clinical population deemed at risk for the development of eating disorders. Two-hundred and three women from a large southwestern state university who belonged to four campus sororities participated in the intervention. Members of the two sorority houses served as the control group while members of the other two houses served as the experimental group during the eight-week intervention. The intervention consisted of five workshops involving risk factors identified with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The intervention included workshops on basic information on eating disorders, exercise, stress management, nutrition, self-esteem, and body image. Compared to the control group, the experimental group displayed significantly lower scores on the Ineffectiveness sub-scale and the Bulimia sub-scale of the Eating Disorder Inventory. The present study demonstrated that a population highly susceptible to disordered eating, was open to and positively affected by, an intervention procedure.

The purpose of the current study was to examine young women's perceptions of both verbal and nonverbal sexual communication from their mothers during childhood and how these perceptions are related to the female offspring's current sexual experiences and attitudes. More specifically, I hypothesized that perceptions of negative parental sexual communication will be related to relatively low levels of sexual experience, comfort regarding sexual activity, and sexual assertiveness, as well as negative affect and cognition regarding sexuality. I also hypothesized that female offspring will receive significantly more sexual communication from mother than from father. Finally, predicted that the communication received from mother, as opposed to father, will be related to high levels of sexual experience, sexual comfort, sexual assertiveness, and more positive sexual affect and cognition. There were 295 female college students who completed questionnaires regarding sexual experience, comfort with sexual activity, sexual assertiveness, perceptions of parental sexual communication, affective and cognitive properties of sexual attitude, and erotophobia/erotophilia. Perceptions of parental sexual communication were measured with a survey developed specifically for the current study. Two forms of this survey were used; one to measure mother's verbal communication and the other to measure nonverbal communication. Results showed a negative correlation between tone of parental sexual communication and sexual experience, as well as a positive correlation between parental sexual communication and sexual cognition. The results of this study also showed that more sexual communication is perceived from mother than from father, and amount of mother's communication was significantly related to sexual assertiveness and affective properties of sexual attitudes. / Department of Psychological Science

Anthropology has long understood that cultures proscribe gender-specific roles. This thesis explores how gender role dynamics in America may contribute to more college women going abroad to study than college men. The past decade of data consistently indicates that two-thirds of American students studying abroad are female. While this statistic seems counterintuitive to the stereotype that Americans rear boys to be adventurous and girls to be protected; ethnographic methods were primarily used to identify and analyze the cultural scripts that influence female decision-making among this population. This research will reflect the web of complex and competing cultural scripts students face regarding the decision to study abroad, many of which are at least influenced by gender and socially transmitted by their families. / Department of Anthropology

The research of Stice et al. (1994) and Stice and Shaw (1994) proposed several mechanisms that may mediate the adverse effects of media exposure to the thin ideal including internalization of the thin-ideal, negative affect, and body dissatisfaction. The purpose of this study was to extend initial research of Stice and Shaw (1994) by incorporating two forms of media (e.g., TV and Magazines) to assess the effects of exposure to the media portrayal of ideal body shape on women's mood, body satisfaction, and internalization of societal values concerning attractiveness. The relation of these variables to bulimic symptomatology was examined. The current study improved upon Stice and Shaw's study (1994) by matching participants' scores on BMI, level of negative affect, and level of body satisfaction before random assignment to the experimental conditions. Female undergraduates aged 18 to 25 years participated in premeasure (N = 198) and post measure (N = 164) conditions. Results from repeated mulitvariate analysis indicated media exposure to ideal-body images demonstrated no significant changes in women's affect, body satisfaction or endorsement of the thin ideal. Indirect support for the sociocultural theory of eating disorders was provided by multiple regression analyses that demonstrated lower levels of satisfaction with size and shape of body and higher levels of negative affect predicted bulimic symptomatology in women. Future research should determine which females are at greater risk than others for the development of body dissatisfaction, negative mood, and internalization of U.S. values of attractiveness in response to media related messages communicating a thin ideal.

There is a lack of clarity in the current literature in how potential etiological factors interact and result in disordered eating. The purpose of this study was to examine an expanded model of Personality, Social Support, Appraisal/Coping Processes, Abuse History, Internalization of Sociocultural Standards, Psychological Disturbances, and Body Disparagement in the development of disordered eating. The current model was evaluated using 276 women in their transition to college, a time period highly associated with symptoms believed to increase a woman's risk for the development of disordered eating including perceived difficulty coping, weight gain, and negative affect. Structural equation modeling was used to allow simultaneous examination of the causal relationships between the factors. Structural analyses confirmed that college women with previous stressful experiences appraised the adjustment to college as more stressful and reported feeling less able to cope with the transition. Those women who identified the transition as overwhelming were also aware of increased negative mood and psychological states since beginning the school semester. Further, women with previous traumatic sexual experiences appeared to be at additional risk for increased negative affective symptoms. The resulting model confirmed that those women who experience negative mood states and those that endorse strong internalization of cultural values regarding attractiveness encountered increased dissatisfaction and disapproval of their bodies. Finally, women with higher levels of body concern engaged in more eating behaviors associated with disordered eating. The roles of personality functioning and perceived social support could not be identified in the developmental model. The predictive links between constructs in the resulting model provide meaningful information regarding the transition to college and associated risks for development of disordered eating. Validation of the model in an independent sample would provide confirmation of these relationships and longitudinal research examining females' attitudes across crucial developmental periods might provide important information regarding which individuals are most at risk for development of disordered eating.

Psychological and behavioral characteristics of female undergraduates with varying levels of disordered eating, as measured by the Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses (Q-EDD; Mintz, O'Halloran, Mulholland, & Schneider, 1997), were investigated. Results suggest that the Q-EDD is an appropriate instrument for measuring eating disorder symptomatology. Greater disordered eating was associated with more bulimic, dieting, and weight fluctuation symptoms, higher impression management and approval-seeking needs, more dichotomous thinking, self control, and rigid weight regulation, and increased concern with body shape and dissatisfaction with facial features. Eating-disordered and symptomatic women evidenced more severe eating disorder behaviors and psychological distress than asymptomatic women. Findings are congruent with a redefined discontinuity perspective of eating disorder symptomatology. Treatment implications and campus-wide preventions are suggested.

The problem with which this study was concerned was that of developing a valid and reliable physical fitness test for college women which could be readily administered to large groups in a short period of time.