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  • February 22, 2010
  • 09:49 AM
  • 7,078 views

Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland - A Route Map Towards Healthy Weight

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology


The Scottish Government has published a paper called Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland - A Route Map Towards Healthy Weight ', Published 22nd Feb2010. Give it a read! We don't do much well. But we certainly known how to do obesity!


Scottish Government (2010). Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland - A Route Map Towards Healthy Weight Government Publication

... Read more »

Scottish Government. (2010) Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland - A Route Map Towards Healthy Weight. Government Publication. info:/

  • February 20, 2010
  • 06:58 AM
  • 6,049 views

Exercise Adherence among Older Adults: Challenges and Strategies

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

This short paper gives a good review of the challenges facing researchers in the area of exercise adherence. Researchers aim to encourage people to exercise or take part in physical activity at a level sufficient to enable them to enjoy the associated health benefits. However as Dishman (1994) reports within six months of starting an exercise program the drop-out rate can be as high as 50%. My current research project involves an intervention which attempts to utilize Social Comparison Theory to increase adherence. Hopefully I will post some interim results here soon. Get the article here
... Read more »

  • March 18, 2010
  • 12:00 PM
  • 1,347 views

Qualitative exercise adherence studies - participants with back pain and knee pain

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

Slade et al. (2009) is a qualitative study on people with non-specific chronic low back pain and examines their exercise adherence.  It examines their experiences of exercise past and present and also how they felt during the research study programme.  Many of the findings are in line with expectations from people who have been unsuccessful at establishing long term exercise behaviour, low exercise self efficacy and feelings of fear and helplessness.  The participants also reported that they felt that they lacked sufficient expertise on gym equipment and all expressed a desire for better instruction and feedback of all exercises.  Its a good qualitative paper with exerts from focus group transcripts which really help to understand how some people with injuries and chronic conditions feel about exercise and physical activity.  The full paper can be found here.Another qualitative paper from a broadly similar population is  Hendry et al (2006) and examines the experience of people with Osteoarthiritis of the knee.  The themes of the focus groups are broadly similar and its good to read the two studies to compare the experiences of the two groups.  The Hendry study can be found here.Slade SC, Molloy E, & Keating JL (2009). People with non-specific chronic low back pain who have participated in exercise programs have preferences about exercise: a qualitative study. The Australian journal of physiotherapy, 55 (2), 115-21 PMID: 19463082... Read more »

  • February 16, 2010
  • 11:57 AM
  • 1,292 views

Individual behaviour change strategies

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

I came across this excellent article today on Individual behaviour change strategies. It is published in the ACSM's Health and fitness journal. It covers how to tailor physical activity behaviour change strategies to make them effective. Its full of good advice and i can see me using the advice in the future. I always get annoyed when we think that getting people through the door of a gym is the end of the journey! Thats the the start, my own area is exercise adherence and i am all too aware of the drop off in attendance that occurs with PA intervention. I think realistic expectations and advice are crucial at this time. This article has lots of good advice and i hope to put it to good use!... Read more »

White, Siobhan M. B.S.; Mailey, Emily L. M.S.; McAuley, Edward. (2010) Individual behaviour change strategies. ACSM's Health , 14(1), 8-15. info:/

  • March 12, 2010
  • 06:22 AM
  • 1,273 views

Can the Theory of Planned Behavior Predict the Maintenance of Physical Activity?

by Armitage, C. in Exercise Psychology

The theory of planned behavior (TPB) has been applied to many areas of research in physical activity with varying degrees of success I would argue. This paper looks at the ability of TPB to predict participation in physical activity and explored the development of activity habits in a 12-week study. Gym members completed standard theory of planned behavior measures at baseline and follow-up. The author argues that the results showed that perceived behavioralcontrol was significantly predictive of intentions and actual behavior, and that stable exercise habits developed in the first 5 weeks of the study, and successful prior performance enhanced perceptions of behavioral control. As part of my current research I am running a 12 week circuit training class to study adherence. The findings of the study regarding the 5 week period for exercise habits to develop are particularly interesting as in my study the findings for this element are broadly similar.... Read more »

  • March 15, 2010
  • 07:37 AM
  • 1,202 views

An investigation into the effect of motivational climate on participant enjoyment of children’s athletics sessions

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

I thought today for some light relief I would post my undergrad dissertation.  As I can actually read it and feel OK about it, i reckon its not too bad, it also got quite a good grade  It can be downloaded in full here.  Don't submit it as your own!  That's cheating!  Any questions email me!The study was based on the using TARGET framework to influence motivational climate in children coaching sessions, the abstract is below;Grounded in Achievement Goal Theory (Maehr & Nicholls, 1980: Nicholls, 1984: Dweck, 1986: Ames, 1984) and with a Social Cognitive Perspective (Bandura, 1986) the study investigated the effects of motivational climate on enjoyment ratings of children's athletics sessions.   The rationale was to attempt to increase enjoyment by designing lesson plans which could utilize the reported benefits of a mastery motivational climate. It was postulated this may reduce drop out rates in children's physical activity classes.  The children n=16 (10 boys and 6 girls) mean age 9.87 took part in two sessions.  The researcher attempted to manipulate the motivational climate of the sessions using the TARGET framework, (Ames, 1992: Epstein, 1989) to design sessions with a mastery or performance motivational climate.  The enjoyment rating of the children was measured after each session.  The results indicated that the there was no significant difference in the enjoyment score rating of the two sessions.Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84 (3), 261-271 DOI: 10.1037//0022-0663.84.3.261... Read more »

  • March 7, 2010
  • 04:33 AM
  • 1,114 views

Let's Make Scotland More Active!

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

I thought i would post the Scottish Physical Activity strategy to demonstrate that a good strategy requires effective implementation. The document Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotlandidentified that Scotland was the third most obese country in the world after the USA and Mexico. This may actually be progress as until the report we were usually named as the second! Let's Make Scotland More Active is actually a very good strategy document. It was published in 2003 but progress has been slow with little improvement in PA rates since then. PA is measured in Scotland by the Scottish Health Survey which is now published annually. Since 2003 there has been much discussion about how to go about increasing PA participation, unfortunately politicians and the media seem to be unable to grasp the difference between sport, physical activity and physical education. Policies such as children having two hours of quality physical education per week have sometimes changed to two hours of PA which could include walking to school! The policies themselves remain useful, what is required is the political will to implement them and obviously more PA research! The Scottish Government (2003). Let's Make Scotland More Active, Edinburgh, Scottish Government (February, 2003 )... Read more »

The Scottish Government. (2003) Let's Make Scotland More Active. Government Paper. info:/

  • March 10, 2010
  • 05:09 AM
  • 1,109 views

Bridging the intention behaviour gap: Planning, self-efficacy, and action control in the adoption and maintenance of physical exercise

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

In this paper from 2005 Sniehottaet al. examine why although some people develop an intention to change their health behaviour many do not follow through from intention to action. The gap between the intention and behaviour has been called the ‘‘intention–behaviour gap.’’ The authors examine factors which can be used to reduce the gap. They examine action planning, perceived self-efficacy, and self-regulatory strategies to investigate what effect these can have on reducing disparity between intention and behaviour. The study looked a participants who were cardiac rehabilitation patients their physical activity participation. The authors claim that "the results have implications for research on the intention–behaviour gap, and indicate that planning, maintenance self-efficacy and action control may be important volitional variables". Its well worth a read and examines what I think is a particularly interesting area in Exercise Psychology. The paper can be found here!Sniehotta, F., Scholz, U., & Schwarzer, R. (2005). Bridging the intention-behaviour gap: Planning, self-efficacy, and action control in the adoption and maintenance of physical exercise Psychology & Health, 20 (2), 143-160 DOI: 10.1080/08870440512331317670... Read more »

  • August 16, 2010
  • 07:47 AM
  • 1,090 views

Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation for exercise

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology



OK, so when was the last time you saw a public health campaign which tried to increase physical activity levels by targeting intrinsic motivations to exercise? I personally cant think of any I've seen!  Motivation for exercise can be defined as intrinsic or extrinsic.  Intrinsic motivations for exercise are behaviours that are performed for the satisfaction gained in the activity itself.  Deci and Ryan (1985) argue that intrinsic motivations are commonly those of competency, interest and enjoyment.  I exercise because it makes me feel good and I enjoy it, however most campaigns to increase PA are of the loose weight and keep healthy variety.   Deci and Ryan (2000) identified that activities which are pursued primarily for being enjoyable and interesting are known to be intrinsically motivating the reward is taking part in the activity itself! Extrinsic motivations for exercise include are those behaviours which are performed rewards that are external.  This would include outcomes such as getting fitter, improving appearance, weight loss or ‘toning up’.  This is taking part in an activity for reasons other than the activity itself (Taylor, Ntoumanis, Standage & Spray, 2010).  This where almost all public campaigns to increase physical activity are targeted with limited success.   Ryan et al., (1997) examined exercise adherence with regard to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  Although motivation to exercise includes both intrinsic and extrinsic elements Ryan et al., (1997) reported that body related (extrinsic) motivations were negatively related to hours per week exercise participation and workout length, whereas enjoyment and competence were positively to these measures.  It would appear that intrinsic motivation is a requirement of continued exercise adherence and may become even more important as the timeframe of the adherence behaviour continues.  Even motivations for PA such as aiming to lead a healthy lifestyle would be viewed as extrinsic as they are being pursued for reasons other than performing the activity itself.  This is important as the public messages to encourage the uptake of physical activity and exercise are generally aimed at extrinsic motivators, i.e. weight loss, to improve body image and to improve health status.  Very few public health messages try to convince the audience that physical activity is fun and perhaps an end in itself.  Sports participation has been shown to be more likely to be motivated by intrinsic motivators such as fun and enjoyment, whereas exercise is more often linked to extrinsic motivators such as weight loss, appearance and stress management and that this difference leads to different rates of adherence (Kilpatrick et al., 2005).  Most participants in sport and exercise are likely to be motivated both intrinsically and extrinsically to a greater or lesser degree.  Researchers argue that for long term adherence extrinsic motive must be replaced by intrinsic motives i.e. enjoyment and competency or individuals are unlikely to persist in behaviour (Brawley & Vallerand, 1984: Wankel, 1993).   Many exercise interventions appear to attempt to engage individuals only at a level which appeals to extrinsic motives only such as improving fitness or appearance; this in light of the previous research has implications the success of campaigns tartgeting only intrinsic motivations for exercise.  Ryan, R., Frederick, C., Lepes, D., Rubio, N., & Sheldon, K. (1997). Intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 28, 335-354.Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.Taylor IM, Ntoumanis N, Standage M, & Spray CM (2010). Motivational predictors of physical education students' effort, exercise intentions, and leisure-time physical activity: a multilevel linear growth analysis. Journal of sport & exercise psychology, 32 (1), 99-120 PMID: 20167954... Read more »

  • March 21, 2010
  • 05:51 AM
  • 1,075 views

Physical Activity and Obesity

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

This article examines the role of physical activity and obesity.  It gives a useful summary of the decline of physical activity and its relevance to obesity.  It also examines the role of PA in terms of weight management and weight loss.  Hills et al. (2006) has an excellent table to illustrate where declines in physical activity in daily life may come from.Population-wide declines in physical activity (modified from Brownson et al., 2005)• Leisure-time physical activity: level or slightly increasing• Work-related activity: declining• Transportation activity: declining• Activity in the home: declining; and• Sedentary activity: increasing; therefore, total physical activity is decliningHills argues that the role of increased energy expenditure through  physical activity is the key to weight loss and long term weight maintenance.The paper is available in full here .  The relationship between decline in physical activity and weight management has been covered in several previous posts.  My own favourite is Obesity in Britain: gluttony or sloth? which examines the calorific intake in the UK diet over a 20 year period and concludes that it has declined.  They concluded that physical activity in everyday life had declined and that this was especially the case for children.Hills, A., & Byrne, N. (2006). State of the science: a focus on physical activity. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 15, 40-48.Brownson, R., Boehmer, T., & Luke, D. (2005). Declining rates of physical activity in the United States: what are the contributors? Annual review of public health, 26, 421.  (Abstract only)Prentice, A., & Jebb, S. (1995). Obesity in Britain: gluttony or sloth? British medical journal, 311(7002), 437Hills AP, & Byrne NM (2006). State of the science: a focus on physical activity. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 15 Suppl, 40-8 PMID: 16928660... Read more »

Hills AP, & Byrne NM. (2006) State of the science: a focus on physical activity. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 40-8. PMID: 16928660  

  • February 18, 2010
  • 11:37 AM
  • 1,049 views

Intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

This journal article is a little old. Its from 1997, however as its on adherence and recruits from university student, my present research recruits from university staff, its well worth a read. Ryan et al., examined adherence to exercise classes at an aerobics and a Tae Kwon Do class. They reported that the Tae Kwon Do participants both reported greater enjoyment of the class and had a higher adherence than the aerobics participants. The authors postulated that the aerobics participants would be more motivated by body related motives for taking part in physical activity, whereas they hypothesised that the Tae Kwon Do group would be more motivated by mastery motives. An Interesting study.... Read more »

Ryan, R., Frederick, C., Lepes, D., Rubio, N., . (1997) Intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 335-354. info:/

  • February 17, 2010
  • 06:24 AM
  • 998 views

Effects of Self-Efficacy on Exercise - Email study

by PhD blogger in Exercise Psychology

Self-efficacy is a major part of my PhD research. (Bandura, 1986) describes Self-efficacy as , "one's self-judgements of personal capabilities to initiate and successfully perform specified tasks at designated levels, expend greater effort, and persevere in the face of adversity". It's an important area in physical activity research as not many people will attempt an activity they don't think they are capable of, never mind stick to it. Luszczynska and Tryburcy (2008) examined the effects of an intervention to try and increase Self-efficacy beliefs regarding physical activity. Another interesting aspect of the study is that it was entirely carried out by email on-line. They also give the participants access to there ongoing self efficacy scores and the means for the study. This is involves social comparison with other participants and is an aspect of my own research. The paper involves participants from a general population and also groups with diabetes and CVD. The authors report positive findings for the intervention.
... Read more »

  • February 21, 2010
  • 07:13 AM
  • 970 views

Prevention of obesity: a review of interventions

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

This article from 2006 reviews the effectiveness of interventions to prevent obesity. The authors reported a 'generally consistent finding that total physical activity decreases the risk of overweight and obesity'. Whilst, not unsurprising, it is at least reassuring to see that in print. The article is quite short at four pages but gives a good review of the available evidence. A useful companion is the UK report Tackling Obesities: Future Choices – Project report which offers a thorough look at the many causes and influences of obesity. The graphic models are especially useful and illustrate effectively the complexity of the problem.... Read more »

Brown, T., Kelly, S., & Summerbell, C. (2007) Prevention of obesity: a review of interventions. Obesity Reviews, 8(s1), 127-130. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2007.00331.x  

  • March 12, 2010
  • 06:59 PM
  • 897 views

Obesity, more and more reports and resources!

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

There are it seems more reports and strategies concerning obesity than just about anything else. The strange thing is I have yet to read a bad strategy or poorly presented report, most of the papers are excellent. Its the scale and complexity of the problem that seems to be defeating us. The best report on the causes remain in my view the UK Government Foresight report, available on this site.  There is also the recently published Scottish report Preventing Overweight and Obesity in Scotland - A Route Map Towards Healthy Weight also on this site.  The newer reports I have come across are the not so snappily titled, Prevention of Obesity in Europe – Consortium for the prevention of obesity through effective nutrition and physical activity actions report, Tackling the social and economic determinants of nutrition and physical activity for the prevention of obesity across Europe.  Again its a useful report and has great background and research reading for those who are interested.  My favourite find is the quite wonderful, F as in Fat: How obesity policies are failing in America  .  Again great report, unfortunately a rather sobering and depressing read.  I would like to see obesity policies from around the world so if you come across one, could you please send me a link! Now for some blatant advertising.  My old lecturer has updated one of her publications.  Its called the Psychology of Physical Activity: Determinants, Well-Being and Interventions its a great reference or text book.  I used it as an undergrad for four years and used it for virtually every essay I wrote.Trust for America's  Health (2009). F as in Fat: How obesity policies are failing in America, 1-108... Read more »

TRUST FOR AMERICA’S HEALTH. (2009) F as in Fat:HOW OBESITY POLICIES ARE FAILING IN AMERICA. Web, 1-108. info:/

  • March 23, 2010
  • 07:14 PM
  • 868 views

Exercise for overweight or obesity

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

This report is a systematic review of the evidence on Exercise for overweight or obesity.  It's in the form of a  Cochrane Report.  The Cochrane Collaboration is an international, independent, not-for-profit organisation of over 27,000 contributors from more than 100 countries, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of health care readily available worldwide.  It is a thorough review of the evidence in the area of obesity and exercise and its about as good a review as you will find anywhere.  The report is long, detailed and extremely useful.  I refer to it frequently and i'm sure i will do in the future too!  The report can be found here.Shaw K, Gennat H, O'Rourke P, & Del Mar C (2006). Exercise for overweight or obesity. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) (4) PMID: 17054187... Read more »

Shaw K, Gennat H, O'Rourke P, & Del Mar C. (2006) Exercise for overweight or obesity. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online). PMID: 17054187  

  • December 12, 2010
  • 03:31 PM
  • 830 views

Facebook, physical activity and comparison

by Exercise psychology in Exercise Psychology

This article is of interest to me as it combines physical activity, in this case, pedometer step counts and comparison. The author used Facebook as a means of enabling participants to compare their step counts with those of others in a workplace group. The intervention reports that the comparison opportunities led to the participants increasing their step counts. ... Read more »

Buunk BP, Collins RL, Taylor SE, VanYperen NW, & Dakof GA. (1990) The affective consequences of social comparison: either direction has its ups and downs. Journal of personality and social psychology, 59(6), 1238-49. PMID: 2283590  

  • February 23, 2010
  • 08:14 PM
  • 711 views

Physical Actvity and Mental Health

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

Babyak (2000) examined the use of physical activity as a treatment for depression. Participants classified as clinically depressed were given, aerobic exercise, drugs or both as treatment. The exercise only group recovered as well as the other groups but had a lower relapse rate, perhaps caused by the participants feeling that they had a more active role in their treatment. The exercise group also a side effect of the participants getting fitter! There are many other studies associating participating in physical activity with increased feelings of well-being.Details of the Babyak (2000) study are here:Other physical activity related sources NHS Health ScotlandPhysical Activity and Mental Health: the role of physical activity in promoting mental wellbeing and preventing mental health problems, briefing document May 2008Babyak M, Blumenthal JA, Herman S, Khatri P, Doraiswamy M, Moore K, Craighead WE, Baldewicz TT, & Krishnan KR (2000). Exercise treatment for major depression: maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months. Psychosomatic medicine, 62 (5), 633-8 PMID: 11020092... Read more »

Babyak M, Blumenthal JA, Herman S, Khatri P, Doraiswamy M, Moore K, Craighead WE, Baldewicz TT, & Krishnan KR. (2000) Exercise treatment for major depression: maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months. Psychosomatic medicine, 62(5), 633-8. PMID: 11020092  

  • March 16, 2010
  • 07:14 AM
  • 555 views

Spotlight on Inactivity

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

A report published yesterday in the UK by Professor Sir Liam Donaldson the UK Government's Chief Medical Officer, and the professional head of all medical staff in England, draws attention to the role of inactivity in the nations health. The report states that "the benefits of regular physical activity to health, longevity, well being and protection from serious illness have long been established. They easily surpass the effectiveness of any drugs or other medical treatment. The challenge for everyone, young and old alike, is to build these benefits into their daily lives"".Key points• Inactivity affects 60–70% of the adult population: that is more people than obesity, alcohol misuse and smoking combined.• The physical fitness of children is declining by up to 9% per decade.• By increasing the risk of developing more than six major diseases, inactivity poses a significant risk to the population’s health.• Physical activity tends to decline with age, but this decline is not inevitable.• The potential benefits of physical activity to health are huge. If a medication existed which had a similar effect, it would be regarded as a ‘wonder drug’ or ‘miracle cure’.Nice to see this being spelled out so clearly in the media, its getting a lot of publicity in the UK.  The report can be found here and the physical activity section starts on page 20.Blair, S (2007). 61 Physical inactivity: the biggest public health problem of the 21st Century Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 10, 29-29 DOI: 10.1016/S1440-2440(07)70066-X... Read more »

  • February 18, 2010
  • 06:34 PM
  • 536 views

Exercise does not feel the same when you are overweight

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

This paper from 2006 is useful for several reasons. Adherence rates for those who are overweight or obese are lower than those of the general population. This paper argues that exercise does not feel the same when you are overweight. The study had female participants run on a treadmill at two speeds, a self selected speed and that speed plus 10%, referred to as the 'imposed' speed. The authors reported that 'the overweight women showed higher oxygen uptake and perceived exertion than the normal weight women during both sessions. Although the two groups did not differ in ratings of pleasure displeasure during the session at self-selected speed, only the overweight women showed a significant decline when the speed was imposed'. This article is very useful in explaining possible reasons for the different adherence rates between the general population and those who are overweight or obese... Read more »

  • February 21, 2010
  • 12:17 PM
  • 333 views

Physical Activity and Mental Health

by PhD Blogger in Exercise Psychology

Babyak (2000) examined the use of physical activity as a treatment for depression. Participants classified as clinically depressed were given, aerobic exercise, drugs or both as treatment. The exercise only group recovered as well as the other groups but had a lower relapse rate, perhaps caused by the participants feeling that they had a more active role in their treatment. The exercise group also a side effect of the participants getting fitter! There are many other studies associating participating in physical activity with increased feelings of well-being.Details of the Babyak (2000) study are here:Other physical activity related sources NHS Health ScotlandPhysical Activity and Mental Health: the role of physical activity in promoting mental wellbeing and preventing mental health problems, briefing document May 2008Babyak M, Blumenthal JA, Herman S, Khatri P, Doraiswamy M, Moore K, Craighead WE, Baldewicz TT, & Krishnan KR (2000). Exercise treatment for major depression: maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months. Psychosomatic medicine, 62 (5), 633-8 PMID: 11020092... Read more »

Babyak M, Blumenthal JA, Herman S, Khatri P, Doraiswamy M, Moore K, Craighead WE, Baldewicz TT, & Krishnan KR. (2000) Exercise treatment for major depression: maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months. Psychosomatic medicine, 62(5), 633-8. PMID: 11020092  

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