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The purpose of this study was to test a partnered, self-determination theory–informed mobile health intervention called SCI Step Together, using an 8-week randomized controlled trial design. The aim of SCI Step Together is to increase the quantity and quality of physical activity (PA) among adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) who walk. The SCI Step Together program provides PA modules and PA self-monitoring tools and facilitates peer and health coach support. Process, resource, management, and scientific feasibility were assessed, and participants completed questionnaires at baseline, mid-, and postintervention to assess determinants and outcomes of PA. Interviews were conducted to evaluate acceptability. Results suggest that the program demonstrated good feasibility, acceptability, and engagement. The intervention group (n = 11) had greater fulfillment of basic psychological needs and knowledge (p =.05) than the control group (n = 9). There were no significant interaction effects for other outcomes. The SCI Step Together program is feasible and acceptable and efficacious for improving some psychosocial variables. Results may inform SCI mobile health programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of depleted self-control strength on skill-based sports task performance. Sixty-two participants completed the following: a baseline dart-tossing task (20 tosses), with measures of accuracy, reaction time, and myoelectrical activity of the arms taken throughout; a self-control depletion (experimental) or a nondepletion (control) manipulation; and a second round of dart tossing. As hypothesized, participants in the experimental condition had poorer mean accuracy at Round 2 than control condition participants, and a significant decline in accuracy from Round 1 to Round 2. Experimental condition participants also demonstrated poorer consistency in accuracy compared with control condition participants at Round 2 and a significant deterioration in consistency from Round 1 to Round 2. In addition, consistency in reaction time improved significantly for the control group but not for the experimental group. The results of this study provide evidence that ego depletion effects occur in the performance of a skill-based sports task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment examined the effects of a possible selves intervention on selfregulatory efficacy and exercise behavior among 19 men and 61 women (M age = 21.43 years, SD = 3.28) who reported exercising fewer than 3 times per week. Participants were randomly assigned to a control condition, a hoped-for possible selves intervention condition, or a feared possible selves intervention condition. The hoped-for and feared possible selves interventions required participants to imagine themselves in the future as either healthy, regular exercisers or as unhealthy, inactive individuals, respectively. Participants in the control condition completed a quiz about physical activity. Measures of self-regulatory efficacy (scheduling, planning, goal setting, and barrier self-efficacy) were taken immediately before and after the intervention. Participants who received either possible selves intervention reported greater exercise behavior 4 weeks and 8 weeks postintervention than participants in the control group. Planning self-efficacy partially mediated the effects of the possible selves intervention on exercise behavior over the first 4 weeks of the study. These findings highlight the effectiveness of possible selves interventions for increasing exercise behavior and the role of self-regulatory processes for explaining such effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women who exercise in front of a mirror do not experience the psychological benefits that are typically associated with exercise (Martin Ginis et al., 2003). According to objective self-awareness theory (Duval & Wicklund, 1972), gazing into a mirror enhances self-awareness. Women with a negative sense of self as an exerciser (i.e., sedentary women) who exercise in a mirrored environment may experience heightened self-awareness, which may elicit a negative affective response. Using an interference paradigm, this experiment examined self-awareness as a potential mechanism underlying the detrimental effects of mirrored environments on sedentary women's (n = 87; M age = 20.2) psychological response to exercise. Participants performed 20 min of moderate intensity exercise either in front of a mirrored or an unmirrored wall with or without a distracter (a counting task). Participants completed the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory (Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993) pre- and 15 min post-exercise. Self-awareness was assessed immediately pre- and post-exercise with the Private Self-Consciousness Scale (Fenigstein et al., 1975). Multilevel linear models revealed a trend for women in the mirrored condition without distraction to be more self-aware post-exercise than women in the unmirrored (p = .06) and mirrored conditions (p = .27) with distraction. Also, women in the mirrored condition without distraction tended to feel more exhausted post-exercise than women in the other conditions (ps < .27). Participants who were distracted scored the same or worse for positive engagement, revitalization, and tranquility than women who exercised in front of the mirror without distractions. An evaluation of the distracter task suggested that the monotony of the task may have affected these feeling states negatively. Nonetheless, results from this preliminary experiment provide some support for objective self-awareness theory, suggesting that exercising in mirrored environments may heighten self-awareness, which may increase negative affect. Further research using alternate distracter tasks is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theorists have highlighted the important conceptual distinction between claimed and behavioral self-handicaps (e.g., Leary & Shepperd, 1986), but effort has not been directed toward determining whether the two forms of self-handicapping have different determinants and consequences. Kuczka and Treasure (2005) found that the use of claimed self-handicaps prior to a tournament was positively correlated with perceptions of the team environment as being ego-oriented, and negatively correlated with perceptions of the team environment as being task-oriented. However, we are not aware of any studies that have manipulated motivational climate and directly compared the use of self-handicaps across climates. Thus, the purpose of the present experiment was to examine whether the use of claimed and behavioral self-handicaps and their correlates differed across experimentally manipulated motivational climates. Fifty-six competitive players, 25 men (M age = 20.7 years, SD = 2.6) and 31 women (M age = 20.8; SD = 3.9), participated in the study. A repeated measures design was utilized, such that all participants completed the experimental task (i.e., a test of basketball skill) in both mastery and performance climate. Questionnaire measures of anxiety direction and claimed self-handicapping were administered pretest. Behavioral self-handicapping was operationalized as the number of preparatory shots taken during a warm-up. ANOVA showed no differences in claimed self-handicapping across motivational climates (p > .05). However, greater behavioral self-handicapping occurred in the performance than the mastery climate, F(1, 54) = 46.21, p < .001. Claimed, but not behavioral was predicted by cognitive (r = -.39) and somatic (r = -.50) anxiety direction. Contrary to expectation, neither type of self-handicap was related to performance on the test in either climate (p > .05). These findings reinforce the conceptual distinction between claimed and behavioral self-handicaps and suggest that individual and environmental factors may differentially influence each type of handicap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the numerous psychosocial benefits associated with physical activity, the spinal cord injury (SCI) population remains one of the most sedentary populations in society (Tasiemski et al., 2000). Whereas most SCI research has been directed at the psychosocial determinants of physical activity, little focus has been given to the role of the physical environment. Considering the high rate of wheelchair use among the SCI population (CPA, 2002), the demands of the physical environment may pose an additional barrier to physical activity participation (Rimmer, 1999). Thus, the present cross-sectional study examined whether neighborhood perceptions of the physical environment predict leisure-time (LT) wheeling among the SCI population. Two hundred and six participants (M age = 44.57; 75% male; 56% quadriplegics) were administered measures of neighborhood perceptions (Saelens et al., 2002) and LT wheeling behavior (PARA-SCI, Martin Ginis et al., 2005) via telephone. Results revealed greater mild- and moderate-intensity LT wheeling among paraplegics than quadriplegics (ps < .05). Significant correlations were found between mild and moderate LT wheeling and the presence of paved pathways/trails for men (r = .16), and paraplegics (r = .23), whereas moderate LT wheeling was negatively related to the presence of sidewalk ramps among quadriplegics (r = -.23). Regression analyses revealed a trend for the prediction of moderate LT wheeling among men and quadriplegics (ps < .09). For men, sidewalk maintenance (β = -.19), the presence of paved pathways/trails (β = .18), and attractive buildings (β = .31) were significant predictors of moderate LT wheeling, whereas the presence of sidewalk ramps (β = -.31), and trees (β = .31) predicted moderate LT wheeling among quadriplegics. No significant model was found for mild LT wheeling or for the prediction of any intensity of LT wheeling among women and paraplegics. These findings suggest a role for the physical environment in predicting physical activity--particularly moderate intensity LT wheeling--among the SCI population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of planned behavior (TPB) has proven to be a useful framework for predicting physical activity (PA) intentions and behavior (Haggar, Chatzisarantis, & Biddle, 2002). However, meta-analyses (Armitage & Connor, 2001) have reported that even though the TPB predicts intentions reasonably well, it has been relatively less successful in the prediction of subsequent behavior. Thus, it seems that a disparity exists between an individual's formation of an intention and the translation of those plans into behavior (Conner & Norman, 2005). Research has shown that the use of an entreaty statement requesting participants to reflect on potential barriers to their behavior can reduce the discrepancy between individuals' reported intentions and subsequent behavior (Ajzen, Brown, & Carvajal, 2004). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of including an entreaty statement on the TPB's ability to predict moderate intensity PA. Undergraduate students (N = 107) completed an initial assessment of intentions (PRE-INT), attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control for participating in moderate PA for at least 30 min on most days of the week. After considering an entreaty statement, participants' intentions were reassessed (POST-INT). Self-reported PA was measured 1 week later. Results showed that POST-INT scores were lower than PRE-INT scores (p = .002), and hierarchical regression analysis revealed that POST-INT (R² adj. = .50) explained more variance in self-reported PA than PRE-INT (R² adj. = .46). The participants' pre-entreaty intention scores likely represented ideal plans they had regarding engaging in moderate PA over the following week. The entreaty statement possibly compelled respondents to provide a more realistic prediction of how much PA they would perform which, in turn, corresponded better with their actual behavior. This study provides evidence to support the use of entreaty statements in reducing the discrepancy between intentions and behavior and implies its utility as a tool for predicting physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-presentational efficacy (SPE) is defined as people's confidence in their ability to portray a desired image (Maddux et al., 1988). In the exercise context, SPE is described as one's confidence to present the image of a fit and competent exerciser (Gammage et al., 2004a). In young women, SPE has been found to be related to social anxiety, social physique anxiety, and exercise frequency (Gammage et al., 2004a, 2004b). Despite published use of the SPE scale, there is limited evidence of the psychometric properties of the SPE scale. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the factorial and construct validity of the SPE scale in a sample of 321 women and 155 men (M age = 20.20, SD = 2.48 years). Results of a confirmatory factor analysis revealed adequate model goodness of fit indices that all exceeded appropriate criterion levels (>.90). As an index of construct validity, SPE was significantly correlated (ps < .001) with theoretically meaningful variables including fear of negative evaluation (r = -.17), public self-consciousness (r = -.18), and social physique anxiety (r = -.42). Additionally, men reported greater SPE than women (M = 71.17, SD = 16.27; M = 61.90, SD = 18.88) respectively, p < .001, which is consistent with observed gender differences for other self-presentational variables. In conclusion, the results of the present study provide support for the factorial validity and construct validity of the SPE scale. Future research examining exercise behavior, and the exercise environment, is encouraged to utilize the SPE scale as a situation-specific measure of self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain is a significant problem for most people with spinal cord injury (SCI; Turner et al., 2006) and may be a significant barrier to wheeling as a form of leisure time physical activity (LTPA). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between (a) pain and wheeling in individuals with SCI and (b) minutes of wheeling and aerobic fitness. Latimer and colleagues (2006) found that LTPA, in general, was positively correlated with physical fitness among people with SCI. However, it is not known how specific types of LTPA, such as wheeling, are associated with fitness. Individuals with SCI (N = 48, M age = 39 years, 73% male, 60% paraplegic) reported the amount of bodily pain endured over the previous week, completed a 3-day physical activity recall of their wheeling activities (Martin Ginis et al., 2004), and performed an arm ergometer test of aerobic fitness (i.e., VO2peak). Pearson's correlations demonstrated no significant relationship between pain and minutes of LTPA wheeling. However, as hypothesized, significant positive correlations were found between aerobic fitness and total LTPA wheeling (r = .38, p < .01) and specifically moderate intensity LTPA wheeling (r = .45, p < .01). Regression analyses demonstrated that combined LTPA wheeling categories explained 22% of the variance in VO2peak scores (p < .001) and 16% of the variance in peak watts achieved during VO2peak testing (p = .01). Cumulative bouts of wheeling greater than 10 min in duration were generally not stronger correlates of aerobic fitness than the sum of all wheeling. Thus, contrary to physical activity guidelines for the general population, these findings suggest that it may be suitable to encourage cumulative short bouts of wheeling (<10 min) for improving aerobic fitness among people with SCI. Short bouts of wheeling may be a manageable form of LTPA for those who suffer chronic pain and may provide important aerobic fitness and health benefits. This study contributes important information toward the development of physical activity guidelines for people with SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]