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Examines the effects of acute and long-term exercise on perceptions of personal efficacy in sedentary, middle-aged males and females. Both males and females demonstrated significant increases in efficacy following acute exercise. Dramatic increases in females; Significant relationships between self-efficacy and subsequent physiological responses to exercise.

Presents a summary of a study which appeared in the journal, `Australian Journal of Psychology,' by S.H. Boutcher, E. McAuley and K.S. Courney entitled, `Positive and Negative Affective Response of Trained and Untrained Subjects During and After Aerobic Exercise,' which assessed trained and untrained male runners.

Aims We examined the efficacy of exercise training for improving physical functioning and cardiopulmonary fitness in survivors of paediatric brain tumours (BTs) treated with cranial irradiation. Methods We conducted a controlled clinical trial with crossover of exercise training versus no training in the community in either a group or combined group/home setting. A volunteer sample of 28 children treated with cranial irradiation for brain tumours completed training (mean age = 11.53 years; mean time since diagnosis = 5.25 years). end-points were physical functioning assessed by four subtests from the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of motor performance (BOT-2) and pro-rated work rate from a cycle ergometer. Linear mixed modelling was used to evaluate time, training, training setting, and carryover effects. Results Adherence to training was 84%. Performance on the BOT-2 was below average for all assessments. However, training resulted in improvement in bilateral coordination (F (1, 30) = 6.59, p = 0.02), irrespective of training setting and improved performance was maintained even approximately 12°weeks after training had ended (F (1, 24) = 9.60, p = 0.005). Training resulted in increased pro-rated work rate for participants in the group training setting only (F (1, 25) = 4.57, p = 0.04) and these participants maintained their improved work rate approximately 12°weeks after training had ended (F (1, 20) = 8.38, p = 0.01). Conclusion Exercise training improves physical functioning and fitness in paediatric BT survivors. Exercise interventions that ameliorate adverse physical effects and promote health in long-term survivors are highly recommended in this vulnerable population. ( ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT01944761 ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SPEED-ANDREWS A.E., RHODES R.E., BLANCHARD C.M., CULOS-REED S.N., FRIEDENREICH C.M., BELANGER L.J. & COURNEYA K.S. (2011) European Journal of Cancer Care 21, 187-196 Medical, demographic and social cognitive correlates of physical activity in a population-based sample of colorectal cancer survivors Physical activity (PA) improves quality of life in colorectal cancer survivors (CRC) and may reduce the risk of disease recurrence and early death. Few studies, however, have examined the correlates of PA in CRC survivors. Using the Alberta Cancer Registry, 2000 randomly selected CRC survivors were mailed a self-reported questionnaire assessing medical, demographic, behavioural and social cognitive variables from the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Of the 600 survivors who responded, 33% were meeting public health PA guidelines and almost half were completely sedentary. Higher PA was reported by survivors who were younger, unmarried, better educated, wealthier, employed, non-smokers, social drinkers, not treated with radiation therapy, disease-free, in better health and less comorbidity. In multivariate path analysis, these variables were not directly associated with PA after controlling for the TPB variables. The TPB explained 34% ( P < 0.001) of the variance in PA behaviour with direct associations for intention (β= 0.22; P= 0.015) and planning (β= 0.18; P= 0.001). Intention, in turn, had 62% ( P < 0.001) of its variance explained by perceived behavioural control (β= 0.43; P < 0.001), affective attitude (β= 0.25; P < 0.001) and instrumental attitude (β= 0.15; P < 0.001). The TPB may be a useful framework for developing population-based interventions to increase PA in CRC survivors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the effects of coping skills training (CST) on symptoms of depression and anxiety in cancer patients, and investigated moderators of the effects. Overall effects and intervention-related moderators were studied in meta-analyses of pooled aggregate data from 38 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Patient-related moderators were examined using linear mixed-effect models with interaction tests on pooled individual patient data (n = 1953) from 15 of the RCTs. CST had a statistically significant but small effect on depression (g = −0.31,95% confidence interval (CI) = −0.40;-0.22) and anxiety (g = −0.32,95%CI = -0.41;-0.24) symptoms. Effects on depression symptoms were significantly larger for interventions delivered face-to-face (p =.003), led by a psychologist (p =.02) and targeted to patients with psychological distress (p =.002). Significantly larger reductions in anxiety symptoms were found in younger patients (p interaction < 0.025), with the largest reductions in patients <50 years (β = −0.31,95%CI = -0.44;-0.18) and no significant effects in patients ≥70 years. Effects of CST on depression (β = −0.16,95%CI = -0.25;-0.07) and anxiety (β = −0.24,95%CI = -0.33;-0.14) symptoms were significant in patients who received chemotherapy but not in patients who did not (p interaction < 0.05). CST significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety in cancer patients, and particularly when delivered face-to-face, provided by a psychologist, targeted to patients with psychological distress, and given to patients who were younger and received chemotherapy. • The average effect of CST on symptoms of anxiety and depression in cancer patients are statistically significant but small • Younger patients and patients who received chemotherapy benefit more from CST • CST effects are larger when delivered face-to-face, led by a psychologist and targeted to patients with psychological distress [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of exercise interventions on sleep disturbances and sleep quality in patients with mixed cancer diagnoses, and identify demographic, clinical, and intervention-related moderators of these effects.Methods: Individual patient data (IPD) and aggregated meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Using data from the Predicting OptimaL cAncer RehabIlitation and Supportive care project, IPD of 2173 adults (mean age = 54.8) with cancer from 17 RCTs were analyzed. A complementary systematic search was conducted (until November 2018) to study the overall effects and test the representativeness of analyzed IPD. Effect sizes of exercise effects on self-reported sleep outcomes were calculated for all included RCTs. Linear mixed-effect models were used to evaluate the effects of exercise on post-intervention outcome values, adjusting for baseline values. Moderator effects were studied by testing interactions for demographic, clinical and intervention-related characteristics.Results: For all 27 eligible RCTs from the updated search, exercise interventions significantly decreased sleep disturbances in adults with cancer (g = -0.09, 95% CI [-0.16; -0.02]). No significant effect was obtained for sleep quality. RCTs included in IPD analyses constituted a representative sample of the published literature. The intervention effects on sleep disturbances were not significantly moderated by any demographic, clinical, or intervention-related factor, nor by sleep disturbances.Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides some evidence that, compared to control conditions, exercise interventions may improve sleep disturbances, but not sleep quality, in cancer patients, although this effect is of a small magnitude. Among the investigated variables, none was found to significantly moderate the effect of exercise interventions on sleep disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]