Search

Abstract Background Urban neighborhood environments play an important role in facilitating or hindering residents to engage in active mobility and social participation. However, while there is much quantitative research, in-depth knowledge that contextualizes residents’ subjective perceptions of barriers and facilitators of active mobility and social participation is still insufficient. Therefore, a qualitative approach was used to collect subjectively perceived barriers and facilitators of active mobility and social participation of residents from different neighborhoods with objectively determined high vs. low walkability. Furthermore, to better understand (non) concordance of objective environmental characterizations and actual levels of behavior, low and high walkability neighborhood-specific barriers, proposed improvements, and particularities that determine (non) engagement in active mobility and social participation were explored. Methods Three focus groups (N = 6, N = 6, and N = 5) with 17 participants (7 women, 10 men) aged 21–64 (mean age 43.4 ± 14,6 years) were conducted utilizing a pre-structured interview guideline. Participants lived in 11 different neighborhoods with either high or low objectively determined walkability. The focus groups were transcribed verbatim, followed by a thematic analysis of the content with deductive and inductive code categories, utilizing the MAXQDA software. Results Notable was the consensus of many perceived barriers and facilitators of active mobility and social participation along with their assignability to the same context (points-of-interest, infrastructure; safety, communication, community; topography, physical compositions, weather, aesthetics; personal / individual attitudes, influences, evaluations). Another main finding was that high and low walkability neighborhood-specific particularities were revealed that are in contrast to some objective characterizations of walkability: For example, too high density can inhibit active mobility, and too many options can inhibit social participation. Conclusions The consensus of many barriers and facilitators of active mobility and social participation suggests that valuable synergies could be created by coordinating interventions aiming to promote both active mobility and social participation in urban neighborhoods. Also, considering subjective perceptions of residents helps to identify neighborhood-specific factors that determine (non) engagement in active mobility and social participation. The findings can help city planners and public health officials improve the promotion of active mobility and social participation in the creation of health-enhancing urban neighborhoods.

Abstract: Introduction: Some evidence showed positive effects of sports therapy in forensic settings. Most of these evaluation studies analyzed between-subject relations and used RCTs (randomized controlled trials) to investigate intervention effects. RCTs normally randomize participants to an intervention and a control group with the intention to compare averaged group-findings. However, such averaged results, which are based on group effects may not apply to every single forensic patient as they do not adequately address that these patients are unique due to their complex psychopathology. Thus, RCTs do not adequately address the following circumstances especially relevant in forensic settings: heterogeneity and low sample size of therapy groups and low compliance rate of forensic patients. To address these challenges, it could be worthwhile to focus on within-subject relations by using N-of-1 studies. Methods: This viewpoint summarizes the possibilities and limitations of N-of-1 study designs regarding the challenges heterogeneity, low sample size and a low compliance rate when evaluating forensic sports therapy. Results: N-of-1 studies offer a useful addition in the evaluation of sports therapy in forensic psychiatry. They are able to evaluate individual effects and they increase the power of the study by increasing the number of measurements. Nevertheless, they are associated with limitations, for example increased effort due to frequent measurements and long study duration or the difficulty to generalize the results. Conclusion: Future studies should implement N-of-1 study designs in forensic psychiatric sports therapy to gain evidence and should find solutions to deal with the limitations (e.g., digital technology).

Abstract Context While a growing body of research has been demonstrating how exposure to social and built environments relate to various health outcomes, specific pathways generally remain poorly understood. But recent technological advancements have enabled new study designs through continuous monitoring using mobile sensors and repeated questionnaires. Such geographically explicit momentary assessments (GEMA) make it possible to link momentary subjective states, behaviors, and physiological parameters to momentary environmental conditions, and can help uncover the pathways linking place to health. Despite its potential, there is currently no review of GEMA studies detailing how location data is used to measure environmental exposure, and how this in turn is linked to momentary outcomes of interest. Moreover, a lack of standard reporting of such studies hampers comparability and reproducibility. Aims The objectives of this research were twofold: 1) conduct a systematic review of GEMA studies that link momentary measurement with environmental data obtained from geolocation data, and 2) develop a STROBE extension guideline for GEMA studies. Method The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Inclusion criteria consisted of a combination of repeated momentary measurements of a health state or behavior with GPS coordinate collection, and use of these location data to derive momentary environmental exposures. To develop the guideline, the variables extracted for the systematic review were compared to elements of the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) and CREMAS (CRedibility of Evidence from Multiple Analyses of the Same data) checklists, to provide a new guideline for GEMA studies. An international panel of experts participated in a consultation procedure to collectively develop the proposed checklist items. Results and developed tools A total of 20 original GEMA studies were included in the review. Overall, several key pieces of information regarding the GEMA methods were either missing or reported heterogeneously. Our guideline provides a total of 27 categories (plus 4 subcategories), combining a total of 70 items. The 22 categories and 32 items from the original STROBE guideline have been integrated in our GEMA guideline. Eight categories and 6 items from the CREMAS guideline have been included to our guideline. We created one new category (namely “Consent”) and added 32 new items specific to GEMA studies. Conclusions and recommendations This study offers a systematic review and a STROBE extension guideline for the reporting of GEMA studies. The latter will serve to standardize the reporting of GEMA studies, as well as facilitate the interpretation of results and their generalizability. In short, this work will help researchers and public health professionals to make the most of this method to advance our understanding of how environments influence health.

Abstract Background Living in urban environments is associated with several health risks (e.g., noise, and air pollution). However, there are also beneficial aspects such as various opportunities for social activities, which might increase levels of social participation and (physically) active mobility that in turn have positive effects on health and well-being. However, how aspects of the environment, active mobility, and social participation are associated is not well established. This study investigates the moderating effect of low vs. high walkability neighborhoods on the associations between active mobility, and social participation and integrates individuals’ subjective perception of the neighborhood environment they are living in. Methods Cross-sectional data from 219 adults (48% female, mean age = 46 ± 3.8 years) from 12 urban neighborhoods (six low, six high walkability) were analyzed: First, social participation, active mobility, and subjective neighborhood perceptions were compared between people living in a low vs. high walkability neighborhood via t-tests. Second, multigroup path analyses were computed to explore potential differences in the associations between these variables in low vs. high walkability neighborhoods. Results Social participation, active mobility, and subjective neighborhood perceptions didn’t differ in low vs. high walkability neighborhoods (p: 0.37 − 0.71). Active mobility and subjective neighborhood perceptions were significantly stronger related to social participation in low vs. high walkability neighborhoods (active mobility in low: ß = 0.35, p

Abstract. Physical activity has gained importance in psychiatric and psychosomatic treatment schemes, but there is little knowledge on the use of physical activity for forensic rehabilitation, including psychosocial outcomes. A systematic review of the literature on PubMed and Livivo found only one study that specifically addressed the effects of physical activity in forensic patients. Twenty-three studies reported on physical activity in the context of non-forensic patients suffering from mental illnesses similar to those commonly diagnosed in forensic patients. We summarize the effects of physical activity with respect to therapeutic objectives suggested by German sport therapists working with forensic patients. In forensic patients or patients suffering from mental illness typical of forensic patients, physical activity promotes social skills (4 studies), self-image, body experience, and personality growth (9 studies). Physical activity also helps to activate patients (12 studies), while reducing their tension and anger (1 study). Yet, there is a significant lack of specific scientific evidence as to whether sport therapy for forensic patients is effective in terms of the therapeutic objectives of this patient group. Future research must focus on longitudinal dose-effect outcome studies on forensic patients and should also concentrate on studies in the area of psychosis, personality disorders and addiction in relation to forensic sport therapeutic objectives.

Living in urban environments affects individuals’ mental health through different pathways. For instance, physical activity and social participation are seen as mediators. However, aiming to understand underlying mechanisms, it is necessary to consider that the individual is interacting with its environment. In this regard, this viewpoint discusses how urban health research benefits from integration of socioecological and interdisciplinary perspectives, combined with innovative ambulatory data assessments that enable researchers to integrate different data sources. It is stated that neither focusing on the objective and accurate assessment of the environment (from the perspective of spatial sciences) nor focusing on subjectively measured individual variables (from the public health as well as a psychosocial perspective) alone is suitable to further develop the field. Addressing person-place interactions requires an interdisciplinary view on the level of theory (eg, which variables should be focused on?), assessment methods (eg, combination of time-varying objective and subjective measures), as well as data analysis and interpretation. Firstly, this viewpoint gives an overview on previous findings addressing the relationship of environmental characteristics to physical activity and mental health outcomes. We emphasize the need for approaches that allow us to appropriately assess the real-time interaction between a person and a specific environment and examine within-subject associations. This requires the assessment of environmental features, the spatial-temporal behavior of the individual, and the subjective experiences of the situation together with other individual factors, such as momentary affective states. Therefore, we finally focused on triggered study designs as an innovative ambulatory data assessment approach that allows us to capture real-time data in predefined situations (eg, while walking through a specific urban area).

BackgroundThere has been increasing interest in the extent to which the fulfillment of psychological needs is associated with physical activity engagement. However, a vast majority of studies consider only basic psychological needs such as relatedness, competence, and autonomy—with higher-level psychological needs such as challenge, creativity, and spirituality rarely being addressed. The aim of this study was to examine the preliminary reliability (i.e., internal consistency) and validity (i.e., discriminant, construct, and predictive) of a multi-dimensional scale to assess a range of basic and higher-level psychological needs satisfied through physical activity.MethodsA sample of 75 adults (ages 19–65 years, 59% female, 46% White) completed a baseline questionnaire measuring 13 psychological needs subscales (i.e., physical comfort, safety, social connection, esteem from others, individual esteem, learning, challenge, entertainment, novelty, creativity, mindfulness, aesthetic appreciation, and morality), exercise enjoyment, and exercise vitality. Participants then completed 14 days of accelerometer monitoring of physical activity and ecological momentary assessment of affective responses during physical activity sessions in daily life.ResultsInternal consistency reliability was acceptable (>0.70) for all subscales except for mindfulness, aesthetic appreciation, and morality. Ten of the 13 subscales exhibited discriminant validity by differentiating between engagement (vs. no engagement) in at least one physical activity type (e.g., brisk walking and yoga/Pilates). All the subscales, except physical comfort and esteem from others, were associated with at least one of the construct validation criteria (e.g., exercise enjoyment, affective response during exercise). Five of the subscales were associated with at least one of the predictive validation criteria (i.e., light, moderate, vigorous intensity activity measured by accelerometer).ConclusionHaving the capacity to assess whether one’s current physical activity is failing to fulfill various psychological needs—combined with recommendations about which types of activities may satisfy those needs—may address an important gap in physical activity promotion.

BackgroundWalking behavior is positively associated with physiological and mental health as much evidence has already shown. Walking is also becoming a critical issue for health promotion in urban environments as it is the most often used form of active mobility and helps to replace carbon dioxide emissions from motorized forms of transport. It therefore contributes to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and heat islands within cities. However, to promote walking among urban dwellers and to utilize its health-enhancing potential, we need to know more about the way in which physical and social environments shape individual experiences during walking episodes. Such person-place interactions could not adequately be analyzed in former studies owing to methodological constraints. ObjectiveThis study introduces walking-triggered e-diaries as an innovative ambulatory assessment approach for time-varying associations, and investigates its accuracy with 2 different validation strategies. MethodsThe walking trigger consists of a combination of movement acceleration via an accelerometer and mobile positioning of the cellphone via GPS and transmission towers to track walking activities. The trigger starts an e-diary whenever a movement acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold and participants' locations are identified as nonstationary outside a predefined place of residence. Every 420 (±300) seconds, repeated e-diaries were prompted as long as the trigger conditions were met. Data were assessed on 10 consecutive days. First, to investigate accuracy, we reconstructed walking routes and calculated a percentage score for all triggered prompts in relation to all walking routes where a prompt could have been triggered. Then, to provide data about its specificity, we used momentary self-reports and objectively assessed movement behavior to describe activity levels before the trigger prompted an e-diary. ResultsData of 67 participants could be analyzed and the walking trigger led to 3283 e-diary prompts, from which 2258 (68.8%) were answered. Regarding accuracy, the walking trigger prompted an e-diary on 732 of 842 (86.9%) reconstructed walking routes. Further, in 838 of 1206 (69.5%) triggered e-diaries, participants self-reported that they were currently walking outdoors. Steps and acceleration movement was higher during these self-reported walking episodes than when participants denied walking outdoors (steps: 106 vs 32; acceleration>0.2 g in 58.4% vs 19% of these situations). ConclusionsAccuracy analysis revealed that walking-triggered e-diaries are suitable to collect different data of individuals' current experiences in situations in which a person walks outdoors. Combined with environmental data, such an approach increases knowledge about person-place interactions and provides the possibility to gain knowledge about user preferences for health-enhancing urban environments. From a methodological viewpoint, however, specificity analysis showed how changes in trigger conditions (eg, increasing the threshold for movement acceleration) lead to changes in accuracy.

BackgroundEvidence suggests positive affective response during physical activity increases the likelihood of engaging in and maintaining regular activity exercise in the future. Elucidating antecedents for a positive affective response may help identify intervention strategies to increase activity. Affectively-charged motivations (e.g., desires, urges, dreading) have been posited as proximal antecedents to physical activity but have yet to be examined in terms of their influence on affective response in real-world settings. The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine within-subject effects of pre-physical activity affectively-charged motivation on subsequent affective response during physical activity.MethodsParticipants included 56 adults (M = 39.18 years, SD = 11.98; 67.86% female) who completed a 14-day smartphone-based EMA study. Prior to starting physical activity (time t), participants self-initiated an event-contingent EMA survey that assessed affectively-charged motivation for physical activity (i.e., rating scale from “dreading it” to “excited to do it”). EMA surveys prompted during subsequent physical activity (time t + 15 min) assessed affective response (i.e., feeling good—bad, energized—exhausted, thrilled—miserable, interested—bored, and relaxed—nervous). Multi-level linear regression models examined within-subject effects of pre- physical activity affectively-charged motivations on subsequent affective response during physical activity controlling for between-subjects effects of affectively-charged motivation, age, biological sex, time of day, and day of the week.ResultsOverall, there were N = 304 physical activity occasions in the analysis (M = 5.43, SD = 3.97). When individuals reported more positive affectively-charged motivation for physical activity than usual before physical activity occasions, they reported feeling more energized (Estimate = 0.22, p < 0.001), good (Estimate = 0.25, p < 0.001), thrilled (Estimate = 0.12, p = 0.02), and interested (Estimate = 0.24, p < 0.001) during subsequent physical activity. Affectively-charged motivation was not associated with feeling more relaxed (Estimate = 0.11, p = 0.13) during subsequent physical activity.ConclusionMomentary affectively-charged motivations predicted more positive affective response during subsequent physical activity among active adults. Future research can explore potential sources of intraindividual differences in affectively-charged motivations and further examine these associations with future physical activity behavior. To improve positive affective responses, interventions may boost affectively-charged motivations through real-time mobile prompting in naturalistic settings.

Abstract Background Sedentary behaviors (SB) and especially prolonged sitting bouts are highly prevalent in daily life and studies indicated an association with an increased risk for several non-communicable diseases. Consequently, guidelines to reduce SB were developed. At the same time, an in-depth knowledge regarding SB such as where, what and with whom people spend time sedentary as well as correlates such as affective states of prolonged sitting bouts, is still lacking. A more differentiated view on SB is necessary to identify detrimental and modifiable sedentary bouts. We addressed this gap by conducting an ambulatory assessment study including accelerometer and sedentary-triggered e-diaries that captures data during prolonged sitting bouts (> 20 min). We investigated how contextual factors of prolonged sitting bouts are associated with momentary affective states. Method Four studies were combined with a final sample of 308 participants (50.3% female, Mage, 27.4, range, 17–66). SB was assessed objectively with thigh-worn accelerometers for four to five days. Whenever a participant was sitting for 20 or 30 min the accelerometer triggered questions assessing social (not alone vs. alone) and environmental (leisure vs. working) factors as well as momentary affective states (valence, energetic arousal and calmness). Multilevel analyses were used to examine within-person associations between different contexts and mood during prolonged sitting. Results Momentary affective states varied significantly due to different social and environmental contexts (p s

BackgroundLight to moderate physical activity, which includes walking, is associated with positive effects on physical and mental health. However, concerning mental health, social and physical environmental factors are likely to play an important role in this association. This study investigates person-place interactions between environmental characteristics (greenness, social interaction) and momentary affective states during walking episodes. A within-subject design is implemented, in which affective states and environmental characteristics are assessed while participants are walking outside.MethodsOn smartphones, coupled with a motion sensor (move3), e-diaries were triggered as soon as people walked 100 m outside. E-diaries assessed momentary affective states (valence, calmness, energetic arousal), and social interaction (walking alone; seeing other people while walking; interacting with other people; walking with a known person) between 6 am and 10 pm over nine days. The percentage of greenness was determined afterward from recorded GPS and GIS data. Demographics were collected in advance via an online questionnaire. Multilevel models were calculated with R for 46 individuals (age = 41.2, ± 13.2; 52% female).ResultsAffective state dimension energetic arousal showed a significant association with social interaction and greenness, i.e., participants rated energetic arousal lower when walking alone, and if there was less greenness vs. when interacting shortly with someone while walking (β = 0.13, p = 0.02), and being in situations with more greenness (β = 0.08, p = 0.02). Furthermore, associations with social interaction and greenness were found for dimension calmness: walking together with someone was associated with higher calmness (β = 0.16, p = 0.02), and the higher the proportion of surrounding greenness during a walk, the higher calmness was rated, i.e., participants were calmer (β = 0.09, p = 0.01). Significant associations with valence were not present.ConclusionThe findings indicate that the affective states varied significantly due to different social and physical environmental factors. In the future, the importance of environmental factors should be further investigated, e.g., by assessing environmental factors right in situations contrary to a subsequent imputation. Within-subject designs, and in particular triggered assessments with the addition of GPS, can aid in developing interventions for health-promoting urban environments.

Abstract Background Physical inactivity is a widespread problem with a great need for innovative intervention concepts to overcome it. Epidemiological studies have identified working women in high-income Western countries to be at greater risk for physical inactivity. The current study included working mothers and examined within-subject associations between doing exercise/sport together with one’s child and five different affective states, and with light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Method During 1 week, mothers (N = 192) completed up to eight ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys a day to assess momentary affect and certain situational circumstances (e.g., doing exercise/sport, being together with child). Physical activity was assessed objectively with waist-worn accelerometers. Results Multilevel analysis showed that doing exercise/sport together with one’s child was associated with higher positive affect and lower negative affect compared to being active alone. However, greater frequency of doing exercise/sport together with children was negatively associated with MVPA. Conclusion Due to the positive effect on momentary affect, combining spending time together with one’s child and simultaneously doing exercise/sport might be a good strategy of pairing two relevant personal goals. However, this strategy was not associated with sufficient MVPA.

Abstract Background Research has shown that affect is associated with everyday movement behaviors in children and adults. However, limited work to date has investigated dyadic influences of momentary affect on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time among children and their mothers using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Methods Mothers and their children (eight to 12-years-old at baseline) from the Los Angeles metropolitan area participated in a longitudinal study with six semi-annual measurement waves across three years. During each measurement wave, mothers and children reported momentary negative and positive affect via a custom smartphone-based EMA application across seven days (randomly sampled up to eight times per day). Each dyad member’s momentary affective states were used to predict their own and the other dyad member’s accelerometer-measured MVPA and sedentary time in the prompt-matched 45-min time window. Multilevel modeling within the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) framework was applied to accommodate the nested dyadic nature of the data. Results At the within-subject level, when children had higher-than-usual positive affect, they engaged in greater MVPA and less sedentary time in the prompt-matched 45-min window (actor effects; ps

Abstract Background Despite the large number of studies and reviews available, the evidence regarding the biological determinants of physical activity (PA) is inconclusive. In this umbrella review, we summarized the current evidence on the biological determinants of PA across the life course, by pooling the results of the available systematic literature reviews (SLRs) and meta-analyses (MAs). Methods We conducted an online search on MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases up to January 2018. SLRs and MAs of observational studies that investigated the association between biological determinants of PA and having PA as outcome were considered eligible. The extracted data were assessed based on the importance of the determinants, the strength of evidence, and the methodological quality. Results We identified 19 reviews of which most were of moderate methodological quality. Determinants that were studied most frequently among all ages and demonstrated evidence suggesting a positive association to PA were younger age, being male, higher health status, and higher physical fitness levels. Among adults, normal birth weight was found to be positively associated to PA with convincing strength of evidence, while findings among adolescents were inconsistent and with limited strength of evidence. Conclusions Different social or behavioral factors may contribute to the decrease of PA with age and among females versus males, and creating programmes targeted at diverse ages, female population, and adults with abnormal birth weight is recommended. Future studies should use prospective study designs, standardized definitions of PA, and objective measurement methods of PA assessment.

Abstract Objective Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of disease and premature death. Knowing factors associated with PA might help reducing the disease and economic burden caused by low activity. Studies suggest that socio-cultural factors may affect PA, but systematic overviews of findings across the life course are scarce. This umbrella systematic literature review (SLR) summarizes and evaluates available evidence on socio-cultural determinants of PA in children, adolescents, and adults. Methods This manuscript was drafted following the recommendations of the ‘Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses’ (PRISMA) checklist. The MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases were searched for SLRs and meta-analyses (MAs) on observational studies published in English that assessed PA determinants between January 2004 and April 2016. The methodological quality was assessed and relevant information on socio-cultural determinants and any associations with PA was extracted. The available evidence was evaluated based on the importance of potential determinants and the strength of the evidence. Results Twenty SLRs and three MAs encompassing 657 eligible primary studies investigated potential socio-cultural PA determinants, with predominantly moderate methodological quality. Twenty-nine potential PA determinants were identified that were primarily assessed in children and adolescents and investigated the micro-environmental home/household level. We found probable evidence that receiving encouragement from significant others and having a companion for PA were associated with higher PA in children and adolescents, and that parental marital status (living with partner) and experiencing parental modeling were not associated with PA in children. Evidence for the other potential determinants was limited, suggestive, or non-conclusive. In adults, quantitative and conclusive data were scarce. Conclusions A substantial number of SLRs and MAs investigating potential socio-cultural determinants of PA were identified. Our data suggest that receiving social support from significant others may increase PA levels in children and adolescents, whereas parental marital status is not a determinant in children. Evidence for other potential determinants was limited. This was mainly due to inconsistencies in results on potential socio-cultural determinants of PA across reviews and studies. Trial registrations This umbrella SLR was recorded on PROSPERO (Record ID: CRD42015010616 ).

Abstract Background Low levels of physical activity (PA) are a global concern and increasing PA engagement is becoming a priority in current public health policies. Despite the large number of studies and reviews available, the evidence regarding the behavioral determinants of PA is still inconclusive. Thus, the aim of this umbrella systematic literature review (SLR) was to summarize the evidence on the behavioral determinants of PA across the life course. Methods A systematic online search was conducted on MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases. The search was limited to studies published in English from January, 2004 to April, 2016. SLRs and meta-analyses (MAs) of observational studies that investigated the behavioral determinants of PA were considered eligible. The extracted data were assessed based on the importance of the determinants, the strength of evidence, and the methodological quality. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (PROSPERO 2014:CRD42015010616). Results Seventeen reviews on 35 behavioral determinants of PA were eligible for this umbrella SLR. Regardless of age, the most investigated determinants were those related with ‘screen use’ and ‘smoking’. For youth, probable positive evidence emerged for ‘previous PA’ and ‘independent mobility and active transport’ among children and adolescents. For the adult population, ‘transition to university’ and ‘pregnancy/having a child’ showed probable negative associations. Conclusions Although the majority of the evidence was limited and most of the determinants were not associated with PA, this umbrella SLR provided a comprehensive overview of the associations between behavioral determinants and PA. Youth should be physically active in the early years and increase active transportation to/from school, independent mobility, and ‘free-range activities’ without adult supervision, whilst adult PA behaviors are mostly influenced by the life events. Finally, more research is needed that incorporates prospective study designs, standardized definitions of PA, objective measurement methods of PA assessment, and the use of interactionist and mediational approaches for the evaluation of different behavioral determinants influencing PA behaviors.

To date, the scientific literature on socioeconomic correlates and determinants of physical activity behaviours has been dispersed throughout a number of systematic reviews, often focusing on one factor (e.g. education or parental income) in one specific age group (e.g. pre-school children or adults). The aim of this umbrella review is to provide a comprehensive and systematic overview of the scientific literature from previously conducted research by summarising and synthesising the importance and strength of the evidence related to socioeconomic correlates and determinants of PA behaviours across the life course.Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and SPORTDiscus were searched for systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies investigating the association between socioeconomic determinants of PA and PA itself (from January 2004 to September 2017). Data extraction evaluated the importance of determinants, strength of evidence, and methodological quality of the selected papers. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (PROSPERO2014:CRD42015010616).Nineteen reviews were included. Moderate methodological quality emerged. For adults, convincing evidence supports a relationship between PA and socioeconomic status (SES), especially in relation to leisure time (positive relationship) and occupational PA (negative relationship). Conversely, no association between PA and SES or parental SES was found for pre-school, school-aged children and adolescents.Available evidence on the socioeconomic determinants of PA behaviour across the life course is probable (shows fairly consistent associations) at best. While some evidence is available for adults, less was available for youth. This is mainly due to a limited quantity of primary studies, weak research designs and lack of accuracy in the PA and SES assessment methods employed. Further PA domain specific studies using longitudinal design and clear measures of SES and PA assessment are required.

Participation in regular physical activity is associated with a multitude of health benefits across the life course. However, many people fail to meet PA recommendations. Despite a plethora of studies, the evidence regarding the environmental (physical) determinants of physical activity remains inconclusive.To identify the physical environmental determinants that influence PA across the life course.An online systematic literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and SPORTDiscus. The search was limited to studies published in English (January 2004 to April 2016). Only systematic literature reviews (SLRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) of observational studies, that investigated the association between physical determinants and physical activity outcomes, were eligible for inclusion. The extracted data were assessed on the importance of determinants, strength of evidence and methodological quality.The literature search identified 28 SLRs and 3 MAs on 67 physical environmental characteristics potentially related to physical activity that were eligible for inclusion. Among preschool children, a positive association was reported between availability of backyard space and outdoor toys/equipment in the home and overall physical activity. The availability of physical activity programs and equipment within schools, and neighbourhood features such as pedestrian and cyclist safety structure were positively associated with physical activity in children and adolescents. Negative street characteristics, for example, lack of sidewalks and streetlights, were negatively associated with physical activity in adults. Inconsistent associations were reported for the majority of reviewed determinants in adults.This umbrella SLR provided a comprehensive overview of the physical environment determinants of physical activity across the life course and has highlighted, particularly amongst youth, a number of key determinants that may be associated with overall physical activity. Given the limited evidence drawn mostly from cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies are needed to further explore these associations.PROSPERO CRD42015010616.

Low levels of physical activity (PA) are reported to contribute to the occurrence of non-communicable diseases over the life course. Although psychological factors have been identified as an important category concerning PA behavior, knowledge on psychological determinants of PA is still inconclusive. Therefore, the aim of this umbrella systematic literature review (SLR) was to summarize and synthesize the scientific evidence on psychological determinants of PA behavior across the life course. A systematic online search was conducted on MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases. The search was limited to studies published in English from January 2004 to April 2016. SLRs and meta-analyses (MAs) of observational studies investigating the association of psychological variables and PA were considered eligible. Extracted data were evaluated based on importance of determinants, strength of evidence, and methodological quality. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (Record ID: CRD42015010616). Twenty reviews (14 SLRs and 6 MAs), mostly of moderate methodological quality, were found eligible. Convincing evidence was found for self-efficacy (positive association with PA) in children and adolescents, and stress (negative association with PA) regardless of age. Most of the evidence revealing an association between psychological determinants and PA is probable and limited, mainly due to differences in the definition of PA and of psychological determinants across reviews. Thus, scholars are urged to reach a consensus on clear definitions of relevant psychological determinants of PA, subsuming cultural biases and allowing the possibility to obtain clear interpretations and generalizability of findings. Finally, most psychological determinants should be considered within a larger framework of other multi-level determinants that may interact or mediate some of the effects.

Despite the well-documented positive effect of exercise on health outcomes, most people do not succeed in exercising regularly. In addition to several other influences, affective states seem to support exercise participation. Associations between exercise and affect have been shown in the laboratory. However, the dynamic relation between affect and exercise in daily life is not yet well understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the bi-directional effect of momentary affective states on naturally occurring exercise and vice versa in healthy participants in real-life environments by applying an ecological momentary assessment design. We hypothesized that (1) exercise duration is positively associated with affective states on a day level, (2) affective states in the morning predict subsequent exercise duration, and (3) exercise duration predicts affective states in the evening on that respective day. Data from N = 60 students aged between 19 and 32 years were analyzed. Affect and exercise duration were assessed daily over a period of 20 days via an electronic diary. Multilevel analysis revealed that positive affective valence was positively associated with exercise duration (p = 0.003) on a day level. In addition, the more the participants exercised that respective day, the better and more content they felt in the evening (p = 0.009). Energetic arousal in the morning significantly predicted subsequent exercise duration (p = 0.045). The findings indicate that it would be worthwhile to focus more on within-subject analyses when analyzing the dynamic relation between affect and exercise. Furthermore, affective states should be taken into account in creating effective interventions to foster exercise behavior and enhance maintenance.