School principals' social support and teachers' basic need satisfaction: The mediating role of job demands and job resources.

Many teachers report high levels of occupational stress. Teachers' basic need satisfaction is essential for teachers' well-being at work. Social support from school principals is assumed to play an important role for teachers' basic need satisfaction. However, the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between social support from school principals and teachers' basic need satisfaction are mostly unknown. Previous research suggests that job demands and job resources may play an important mediating role. Therefore, we examine whether teachers' perceived job demands and job resources serve as mediators between social support from the school principal and teachers' basic need satisfaction. Using longitudinal data of N = 1071 teachers over the course of one school year, we applied structural equation modelling to test the hypothesised mediation model. Results showed that the relationship between social support from the school principal and teachers' basic need satisfaction was mediated by teachers' perceived job demands and job resources. Particularly, the job demand 'unclear organisational conditions' and job resource 'social support from colleagues' indicated the strongest effects on teachers' basic need satisfaction. These findings emphasise the responsibility of school principals to provide social support to their teachers and create a well-structured and supportive workplace. In doing so, school principals contribute to a work environment in which teachers can thrive.

Teachers' perceived time pressure, emotional exhaustion and the role of social support from the school principal.

Many teachers experience high levels of work-related strain due to time pressure, which over time can lead to various health problems, such as emotional exhaustion. However, there is growing evidence that this could be a reciprocal effect. Moreover, it is known that perceived social support can buffer the negative effects of stress, such as time pressure, on health outcomes. Less is known about buffering effects of received social support. Based on longitudinal data of n = 1071 Swiss primary and secondary school teachers over the course of one school year, the present study examined the reciprocal relationship between teachers' perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion and whether received social support from the school principal buffers this relationship. Results of a random intercept cross-lagged panel model show a strong relationship between teachers' perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion at the between-person level, but no effects at the within-person level. Further, received social support was directly related to less perceived time pressure and less emotional exhaustion. The results showed neither evidence for reciprocal effects between perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion nor for a buffering effect of received social support from the school principal. Concluding, present findings indicate that the receipt of social support from the school principal is a central job resource that beneficially relates to teachers' experience of time pressure and emotional exhaustion.

The effects of an exercise training on steroid hormones in preadolescent children - a moderator for enhanced cognition?

OBJECTIVE: Research demonstrates a variety of cognitive benefits induced by different chronic physiological stressors (e.g. motor vs. cardiovascular exercise training) and acute exercise to affect steroid hormone secretion, the present study aims to investigate 1.) motor vs. cardiovascular exercise training and their impact on salivary Testosterone, Estradiol and Progesterone and 2.) whether alterations in steroid hormones might moderate exercise-induced cognitive benefits. METHODS: In a randomized control trial, 71 preadolescent children (39 girls) at the age of 9-10 years were randomly assigned to a cardiovascular exercise group (CE), a motor exercise group (ME) as well as a control group (CON) in which students were attending assisted homework. The participants attended their program three times per week, for a total of 10 weeks. Steroid hormones in the saliva, working memory performance and state-trait anxiety levels were determined before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed no chronic changes in hormones through the interventions. Stepwise hierarchical regression revealed the Testosterone*ME-interaction to be a significant moderator for working memory performance post-intervention (ß = 0.48, p = 0.014). Within the ME, increases of Testosterone from t1 to t2 were predicting higher working memory performance post-intervention (ß = 0.45, R2 = 0.16, p = 0.038). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest 1.) that motor-exercise-induced cognitive benefits are moderated by changes in Testosterone and 2.) that a 10-week exercise training of moderate intensity and with a motor demanding vs a cardiovascular character does not affect the chronic concentration of salivary Testosterone, Estradiol and Progesterone nor anxiety levels in preadolescent children.

Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses: Exercise Effects on Depression in Children and Adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a common threat to children and adolescents in terms of affecting psychosocial development and increasing their risk of suicide. Apart from conventional treatments for depression, physical exercise has become a promising alternative. This paper aims to systematically review the existing meta-analyses that focus on the impact of physical exercise on clinical and nonclinical depression in children and adolescents. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MedLine, PubMed, and hand searching. Risk of bias analysis, effect sizes calculations, and evaluation of the methodological characteristics (AMSTAR 2) were carried out. RESULTS: Four meta-analyses met the inclusion criteria. After analysing the overlap, the total sample contained 30 single studies (mostly including gender mixed samples) and 2,110 participants (age range 5-20 years). The medium duration of the interventions was 11.5 weeks. The sessions had a medium length of 41 min, and the frequency of implementation was three sessions per week. The most implemented intervention type was aerobic exercise, while control groups mainly continued with their regular routine, among other related options. The overall mean effect of physical exercise on depression was medium (d = -0.50). The additional analysis in clinically depressed samples documented a small to medium mean effect (d = -0.48) in favor of the intervention. CONCLUSION: The small to medium but consistently positive effects that were found in the present study place physical exercise as a promising and helpful alternative for children and adolescents with clinical and nonclinical depression. The limited literature focused on children and adolescents in comparison with adult samples points to the need for further research.

Effects of Different Types of Exercise Training on the Cortisol Awakening Response in Children.

Context: Due to great variability of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, research has to produce better-controlled findings to make a more meaningful statement regarding the effect of exercise training (ET) on the cortisol awakening response (CAR), especially in children. Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of different ET interventions on the CAR in children. Design and setting: We conducted a short-term training study for 10 weeks in primary schools in Westphalia, Germany. Participants: 71 children (9-10 years old) were randomly assigned to a cardiovascular exercise group (n = 27), a motor exercise group (n = 23), or a control group (n = 21). Intervention: An experienced instructor trained the children in an after-school setting in 45 min sessions, three times a week over the course of 10 weeks. Main outcome measure: CAR (0, +30 min) was assessed on 2 schooldays one week apart before and after the 10-week intervention. A Shuttle Run Test was performed to determine the cardiovascular fitness. Motor fitness was assessed using the Heidelberg Gross Motor Test. Results: Children who enhanced their cardiovascular fitness over the course of the intervention showed an increased CAR after the intervention time (B = 0.213), whereas children who underwent a motor exercise intervention and at the same time gained in motor fitness exhibited a decreased CAR after intervention (B = -0.188). Conclusions: It has been speculated that other neurobiological pathways are activated by different exercise interventions. The extent to which these ET effects on CAR can be applied in clinical settings needs further investigation. Précis: The 10-weeks longitudinal effects of cardiovascular vs. motor exercise interventions (three times a week) on CAR in children show that these interventions exert different effects on hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity.

Antecedents of Exercise Dependence in Ultra-Endurance Sports: Reduced Basic Need Satisfaction and Avoidance-Motivated Self-Control.

Initiating and maintaining sports and exercise behavior are usually discussed in terms of strategies for promoting health. In the present study, we analyzed a sample of extreme endurance sport athletes and set out to predict exercise addiction, which is a facet of a sport-related health risk. We therefore draw on self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985, 2000), according to which low basic psychological need satisfaction can lead to excessive compensatory behavior. We aim to disentangle the effects of need satisfaction in the activity itself (exercising) and outside the activity (work/leisure) on exercise addiction. Furthermore, we propose anxious self-motivation as a mediator and tested whether it links low basic need satisfaction with exercise dependence. A correlational study with 323 multi-triathlon athletes confirmed our hypothesis that need satisfaction in work/leisure (but not in sports) is negatively related to exercise addiction. Furthermore, only need for competence in both domains (sport, work/leisure) is associated with anxious self-motivation. Mediation models showed that low competence satisfaction leads to anxious self-motivation that in turn predicts exercise addiction. The results are discussed critically in terms of their practical and theoretical implications for promoting health through sport and exercise.

Does intensity or youth affect the neurobiological effect of exercise on major depressive disorder?

The purpose of this commentary is to discuss the different neurobiological effects of exercise on major depressive disorder (MDD) in children and adolescents and to provide additional explanations to this well written systematic review. This commentary highlights the effects of exercise on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which plays a crucial role in MDD. We address the questions of whether age and different exercise intensities may provide additional information on the neurobiological effects of acute or chronic exercise on MDD. Previous findings clearly suggest that the etiology of MDD is complex and multifaceted, involving numerous neurobiological systems, which are additionally influenced by these two factors.

The effects of autonomy support on salivary alpha-amylase: The role of individual differences.

The empirical evidence for the relationship between autonomy-supportive environments and physiological stress is inconsistent. Whereas some studies report a decrease in stress in autonomy-supportive environments, other studies show a negative effect of autonomy on physiological stress. As previous research has not considered individual differences within this relationship, the present research aims to close this empirical gap by proposing that an implicit autonomy disposition, which is defined as a dispositional preference for self-determination, serves as a moderator. In an experiment, we tested whether the autonomy disposition moderates the effect of different teaching styles (controlling, autonomy-supportive, and neutral) on the acute physiological stress response (salivary alpha-amylase) in adolescents (N=69). The study revealed that participants with a high implicit autonomy disposition displayed lower salivary alpha-amylase responses when exposed to autonomy-supportive vignettes compared to when they were exposed to controlling or neutral teaching styles. The opposite pattern was found in students with a low implicit autonomy disposition. The results illustrate that experimentally induced variations in autonomy support lead to different physiological stress responses, depending on individual differences in the implicit autonomy disposition.

Effects of Motor versus Cardiovascular Exercise Training on Children's Working Memory.

PURPOSE: The aim of this investigation was to examine the influence of different types of exercise exertion on primary school children's working memory (WM). METHODS: Participants (N = 71, 9.4 yr, 39 girls) were randomly assigned to a cardiovascular exercise (CE), a motor exercise (ME), or a control group (CON). They underwent a letter digit span task (WM) before and after an intervention period that involved 10 wk of an additional afterschool exercise regimen, which took place three times a week for 45 min. Students in the control group participated in assisted homework sessions. RESULTS: WM performance of the 9- to 10-yr-old children benefited from both the cardiovascular and the motor exercise programs, but not from the control condition. The increase in WM performance was significantly larger for children in the ME compared with the CE or CON. CONCLUSION: These findings add to the knowledge base relating different types of exercise and WM. Besides the efficiency of cardiovascular exercise training, a special motor-demanding intervention seems to be a beneficial strategy to improve WM in preadolescent children.

Effects of Exercise on Physical and Mental Health, and Cognitive and Brain Functions in Schizophrenia: Clinical and Experimental Evidence.

Exercise promotes several health benefits, such as cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory improvements. It is believed that the practice of exercise in individuals with psychiatric disorders, e.g. schizophrenia, can cause significant changes. Schizophrenic patients have problematic lifestyle habits compared with general population; this may cause a high mortality rate, mainly caused by cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate changes in physical and mental health, cognitive and brain functioning due to the practice of exercise in patients with schizophrenia. Although still little is known about the benefits of exercise on mental health, cognitive and brain functioning of schizophrenic patients, exercise training has been shown to be a beneficial intervention in the control and reduction of disease severity. Type of training, form of execution, duration and intensity need to be better studied as the effects on physical and mental health, cognition and brain activity depend exclusively of interconnected factors, such as the combination of exercise and medication. However, one should understand that exercise is not only an effective nondrug alternative, but also acts as a supporting linking up interventions to promote improvements in process performance optimization. In general, the positive effects on mental health, cognition and brain activity as a result of an exercise program are quite evident. Few studies have been published correlating effects of exercise in patients with schizophrenia, but there is increasing evidence that positive and negative symptoms can be improved. Therefore, it is important that further studies be undertaken to expand the knowledge of physical exercise on mental health in people with schizophrenia, as well as its dose-response and the most effective type of exercise.

From Mind to Body: Is Mental Practice Effective on Strength Gains? A Meta-Analysis.

Mental practice is an internal reproduction of a motor act (whose intention is to promote learning and improving motor skills). Some studies have shown that other cognitive strategies also increase the strength and muscular resistance in healthy people by the enhancement of the performance during dynamic tasks. Mental training sessions may be primordial to improving muscle strength in different subjects. The aim of this study was to systematically review and meta-analiyze studies that assessed whether mental practice is effective in improving muscular strength. We conducted an electronic-computed search in Pub-Med/Medline and ISI Web of Knowledge, Scielo and manual searchs, searching papers written in English between 1991 and 2014. There were 44 studies in Pub-Med/Medline, 631 in ISI Web of Knowledge, 11 in Scielo and 3 in manual searchs databases. After exclusion of studies for duplicate, unrelated to the topic by title and summary, different samples and methodologies, a meta-analysis of 4 studies was carried out to identify the dose-response relationship. We did not find evidence that mental practice is effective in increasing strength in healthy individuals. There is no evidence that mental practice alone can be effective to induce strength gains or to optimize the training effects.

Aerobic Exercise Does Not Predict Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor And Cortisol Alterations in Depressed Patients.

The pathophysiology of depression is related to neurobiological changes that occur in the monoamine system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, neurogenesis system and the neuroimmune system. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the research of the effects of exercise on brain function, with a special focus on its effects on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cortisol and other biomarkers. Thus, the aim of this study is to present a review investigating the acute and chronic effects of aerobic exercise on BDNF and cortisol levels in individuals with depression. It was not possible to establish an interaction between aerobic exercise and concentration of BDNF and cortisol, which may actually be the result of the divergence of methods, such as type of exercises, duration of the sessions, and prescribed intensity and frequency of sessions.

Comparing the Effects of Drug Therapy, Perceptual Motor Training, and Both Combined on the Motor Skills of School-Aged Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children.

The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of drug therapy, perceptual motor training and a combination of drug therapy and perceptual motor training on gross and fine motor skills of 6 to 12 year-old Iranian attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children. Thirty-six attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children currently under treatment in three Iranian psychological-neurological clinics participated in this research study. Participants were sampled from the accessible population and randomly assigned to three experimental groups (n = 12 each). The Conners Parent Rating Scale was used to classify the children and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency was administered before and after a three month treatment/ training session. Participants in the first experimental group received drug therapy (including methylphenidate). In the second group participants took part in 18 sessions of perceptual-motor skill training for six consecutive weeks, and in the third group children received both interventions. The results indicated that interventions using perceptual-motor training alone or in combination with a drug therapy significantly improved both gross and fine motor skills over a period of six weeks. Participants in the drug-only group showed no improvement in motor performance.

The implicit Power Motive and Adolescents' Salivary Cortisol Responses to Acute Psychosocial Stress and Exercise in School.

In the present study we examined the moderating effect of the power motive on salivary cortisol responses to acute psychosocial stress and exercise in adolescents. Fifty-seven high school students aged M = 14.8 years participated in the study. The Operant Motive Test was applied to measure the implicit power motive and the Personality Research Form was used to measure the explicit power motive. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed before and after the stress stimuli. Participants were randomly assigned to three experimental groups. An exercise group ran 15 minutes at a defined heart rate of 65-75% HRmax. A psychosocial stress group worked on a standard intelligence test for the same amount of time under the assumption, that their test scores will be made public in class after the test. The control group participated in a regular class session. The implicit power motive was significantly associated with increased cortisol levels in the psychosocial stress group. The explicit power motive was not associated with cortisol responses. Findings suggest that the implicit power motive moderates the cortisol responses to acute stress in an adolescent age group with higher responses to psychosocial stress in comparison to exercise or control conditions.

Potential Therapeutic Effects of Physical Exercise for Bipolar Disorder.

Cognitive deficits are observed in a variety of domains in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). These deficits are attributed to neurobiological, functional and structural brain factors, particularly in prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, cortical alterations in each phase (mania/hypomania, euthymia and depression) are also present. A growing basis of evidence supports aerobic exercise as an alternative treatment method for BD symptoms. Its benefits for physical health in healthy subjects and some psychiatric disorders are fairly established; however evidence directly addressed to BD is scant. Lack of methodological consistency, mainly related to exercise, makes it difficult accuracy and extrapolation of the results. Nevertheless, mechanisms related to BD physiopathology, such as hormonal and neurotransmitters alterations and mainly related to brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF) can be explored. BDNF, specially, have a large influence on brain ability and its gene expression is highly responsive to aerobic exercise. Moreover, aerobic exercise trough BDNF may induce chronic stress suppression, commonly observed in patients with BD, and reduce deleterious effects caused by allostatic loads. Therefore, it is prudent to propose that aerobic exercise plays an important role in BD physiopathological mechanisms and it is a new way for the treatment for this and others psychiatric disorders.

Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders observed currently. It is a normal adaptive response to stress that allows coping with adverse situations. Nevertheless, when anxiety becomes excessive or disproportional in relation to the situation that evokes it or when there is not any special object directed at it, such as an irrational dread of routine stimuli, it becomes a disabling disorder and is considered to be pathological. The traditional treatment used is medication and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, however, last years the practice of physical exercise, specifically aerobic exercise, has been investigated as a new non-pharmacological therapy for anxiety disorders. Thus, the aim of this article was to provide information on research results and key chains related to the therapeutic effects of aerobic exercise compared with other types of interventions to treat anxiety, which may become a useful clinical application in a near future. Researches have shown the effectiveness of alternative treatments, such as physical exercise, minimizing high financial costs and minimizing side effects. The sample analyzed, 66.8% was composed of women and 80% with severity of symptoms anxiety as moderate to severe. The data analyzed in this review allows us to claim that alternative therapies like exercise are effective in controlling and reducing symptoms, as 91% of anxiety disorders surveys have shown effective results in treating. However, there is still disagreement regarding the effect of exercise compared to the use of antidepressant symptoms and cognitive function in anxiety, this suggests that there is no consensus on the correct intensity of aerobic exercise as to achieve the best dose-response, with intensities high to moderate or moderate to mild.

Comparison Among Aerobic Exercise and Other Types of Interventions to Treat Depression: A Systematic Review.

Depression is a common and disabling disease that affects over 100 million people worldwide and can have a significant impact on physical and mental health, reducing their quality of life. Thus, the aim of this article was to provide information on research results and key chains related to the therapeutic effects of chronic aerobic exercise compared with other types of interventions to treat depression, which may become a useful clinical application in a near future. Researches have shown the effectiveness of alternative treatments, such as physical exercise, minimizing high financial costs and minimizing side effects. In this review, the data analyzed allows us to claim that alternative therapies, such as exercise, are effective on controlling and reducing symptoms. 69.3% of the studies that investigated the antidepressant effects of exercise on depressive were significant, and the other 30.7% of the studies improved only in general physiological aspects, such as increased oxygen uptake, increased use of blood glucose and decreased body fat percentage, with no improvement on symptoms of depression. From the sample analyzed, 71.4% was composed of women, and regarding the severity of symptoms, 85% had mild to moderate depression and only 15% had moderate to severe depression. However, there is still disagreement regarding the effect of exercise compared to the use of antidepressants in symptomatology and cognitive function in depression, this suggests that there is no consensus on the correct intensity of aerobic exercise as to achieve the best dose-response, with intensities high to moderate or moderate to mild.