Telehealth applied to physical activity during cancer treatment: a feasibility, acceptability, and randomized pilot study.

PURPOSE: Previous studies have underlined the benefits of exercise during cancer therapy. However, patients are insufficiently active during treatment. Telehealth is used to encourage people to be active, reducing difficulties and offsetting the lack of infrastructure often reported. We aimed to identify the effects of recommendations and telehealth on the level of physical activity, fatigue, and quality of life. METHODS: Sixty patients suffering from various cancers under treatment were randomized into two groups. Every Sunday, they had to complete online questionnaires: number of steps, MFI-20, and EORTC-QLQ-30. Group R (recommendations) was given encouragement to improve physical activity during 8 weeks, using a recommendation guide, and received a weekly SMS text message for exercise promotion. Group C, without recommendations, was the control group. RESULTS: Two-way ANOVAs for repeated measures did not reveal effect on the number of steps walked over time; however, the results indicated a beneficial effect for group R related to self-reported fatigue (F = 2.686, p = .01) and quality of life (F = 2.431, p = .02). CONCLUSION: Surprisingly, the level of exercise in group R did not significantly increase, but self-reported fatigue and quality of life were improved. This study underlines that inexpensive sharing of time, human, and financial means, through a protocol of physical activity, improves patient health.

Links between personality, time perspective, and intention to practice physical activity during cancer treatment: an exploratory study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to analyze links between personality, time perspective, and intention to practice physical activity during cancer treatment. METHOD: One hundred forty-three patients participated in survey by questionnaire. Intention to practice physical activity, time perspective using Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, and personality with the Big Five Inventory were measured. Structural equation models using Lisrel were developed to examine hypothetical links between the variables. RESULTS: The adjusted model evidenced an excellent fit (comparative fit index = 0.92; root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.076; P = .014). Results showed that intention to practice exercise was positively linked with openness to experience and negatively with present fatalist time perspective. Moreover, conscientiousness and neuroticism were found to be linked with future time perspective, which was positively related with intention to practice physical activity. CONCLUSION: The present exploratory study with patients suffering from cancer underlined the importance of considering jointly time perspective dimensions and personality factors for health behavior recommendations. Based on our results, we propose some reflections on practice to help nurses and physicians increase patient's motivation to be physically active. Taking into account patients' personality and time perspective, we would be able to propose specific awareness messages and offer short interventions to have an impact on patients' motivation to practice.

Is red the colour of danger? Testing an implicit red-danger association.

Research using participant's self-reports has documented a link between red and danger. In this research, we used two different variants of a Stroop word evaluation task to test for the possibility of an implicit red-danger association using carefully controlled colour stimuli (equated on lightness and chroma). Experiment 1, using words as stimuli, yielded strong evidence of a link between red and danger, and weaker evidence of a green-safety association. Experiment 2, using symbols as stimuli, again yielded strong evidence of a link between red and danger; no green effects were observed. The findings were discussed in terms of the power and promise of red in signal communication.

Stress Responses, Competition, and Free-Throw Performance: The Predicting Role of Other-Approach Goals.

Experimental stress paradigms have been little used in the sport psychology literature because they are unrelated to the specific sport task. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used in the present study to investigate its influence on the free-throw performance of skilled basketball players. We also investigated the influence of adopting other-approach goals (i.e., doing well relative to others) on free-throw performance when basketball players were placed in a competition immediately after the TSST, comparatively with a control condition without competition. The results showed that free-throw performance decreased in the control condition, while free-throw performance remained stable when the TSST was followed by a competition. They also highlighted that other-approach goals were significant positive predictors of post-TSST performance in the competition condition but not in the control condition. The TSST may now be used with skilled athletes as an experimental stress paradigm to induce acute stress in the sport domain.

Effect of implicit theories on judgement of cheating acceptability in physical education: the mediating role of achievement goals.

We tested a hypothetical model that examined both the effects of implicit theories of ability on the judgement of cheating acceptability in a physical education context and the mediating role of the achievement goals defined in the social-cognitive model of achievement motivation. Data were collected from 477 middle-school students, who completed measures of implicit theories of ability, achievement goals, and judgement of cheating acceptability in team sports within a cross-sectional design. The results indicated that performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals mediated the relationships between entity theory and the judgement of cheating acceptability, and mastery-approach and mastery-avoidance goals mediated the relationships between incremental theory and the judgement of cheating acceptability. Further research is needed to determine whether these results would be replicated with other moral variables and other contexts.

Identifying a motivational process surrounding adherence to exercise and diet among adults with type 2 diabetes.

Objectives: This paper aims to provide physicians with knowledge about the motivational processes surrounding exercise and diet for patients with type 2 diabetes and to offer patient support measures to favor self-management. To respond to this objective, the links between two kind of motivators (i.e., promotion and prevention foci), the Selection, Optimization and Compensation (SOC) self-management strategy, and adherence to exercise and diet of patients with type 2 diabetes were investigated for the first time in the literature.Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 491 French volunteer participants with type 2 diabetes diagnosed for at least 3 months (Age = 61.66 ± 9.63; BMI = 29.8 ± 5.9). Participants completed an online self-report survey measuring SOC strategy, promotion and prevention foci, and adherence to exercise and diet.Results: The main results of path and bootstrapping analysis demonstrated that promotion focus was positively related with SOC strategy (ß = .69, p < .001) whereas prevention focus was not (ß = -.01, ns.). On the other hand, SOC strategy was positively related with exercise (ß = .20, p < .05), general diet (ß = .49, p < .001), fruit and vegetable consumption (ß = .27, p < .001), and spacing of carbohydrates (ß = .40, p < .001), and mediated the positive link between promotion focus and these behaviors (bootstrapped 95% CI: [.11; .40], [.52; .81], [.22; .54], [.37; .70], respectively).Conclusion: This paper addresses a gap in previous research by evidencing a motivator that promotes self-management for exercise and diet among patients with type 2 diabetes. Our results suggest that physicians should privilege an interaction with patients oriented toward promotional motivation so as to favor their patients' self-management regarding exercise and diet.

When depression mediates the relationship between entity beliefs and performance.

The aim of this study was to determine whether depression can explain the negative relationship between academic performance and the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait, i.e., entity belief. A sample of 353 French volunteer adolescents (age 11-16) completed questionnaires assessing entity theory and depressive symptoms (Children Depression Inventory: CDI). Academic performance was assessed by math performance while controlling for baseline level of math ability. Results of this study revealed that entity theory is a significant negative predictor of academic performance and a significant positive predictor of depression. Importantly, our findings also show that depression plays a significant mediating role between entity theory and academic performance. Our findings indicate that individuals who consider their abilities to be non-malleable are more likely to develop depressive symptoms which, in turn, decrease academic performance. These findings contribute to tailoring specific prevention and treatment programs for childhood and adolescent depression.

Understanding the dynamics of physical activity practice in the health context through Regulatory Focus and Self-Determination theories.

This research aimed to associate for the first time in the literature Regulatory Focus and Self-Determination theories to understand the dynamics of physical activity practice in the health context. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted with 603 (Study 1) and 395 (Study 2) French volunteer participants aged from 18 to 69 and 19 to 71 respectively, who were healthy or concerned by a health condition. The main results of structural equation modeling analyses demonstrated that across the two studies, health promotion focus was positively associated with intrinsic motivation (.44 < ß < .74, p < .001), integrated regulation (.47 < ß < .72, p < .001), identified regulation (.40 < ß < .69, p < .001) and introjected regulation (.41 < ß < .53, p < .001), whereas health prevention focus was positively related with external regulation (.31 < ß < .45, p < .001) and amotivation (.32 < ß < .38, p < .001). Bootstrapping analyses main results in Study 2 showed that health promotion focus was indirectly associated with physical activity through intrinsic motivation (95% CI [.02 to .11]), integrated regulation (95% CI [.00 to .08]), identified regulation (95% CI [.00 to .09]) and introjected regulation (95% CI [.04 to .12]), whereas health prevention focus was indirectly associated with physical activity through external regulation (95% CI [.00 to .12]). These studies reveal meaningful associations between Regulatory Focus and Self-Determination theories' variables which support the relevance of associating these two models to understand the processes underlying the physical activity practice.

Health Regulatory Focus, Selection Optimization and Compensation Strategy and Sports Practice: A Mediational Analysis.

This study aimed to investigate associations of health promotion and prevention regulatory foci with sports practice, and examined the Selection, Optimization and Compensation (SOC) process behind the positive relationship between health promotion focus and sports practice. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 513 French volunteer sports participants aged from 18 to 82. Participants completed an online self-report survey measuring health regulatory foci, SOC strategy, Amount of Sports Practice (ASP), health condition, and educational level. Path analysis main results (χ2 = 16.64; df = 5; p < .01; RMSEA = 0.067; CFI = 0.98; R2 = .24) demonstrated that ASP was positively related with health promotion focus (ß = .13, p < .01), SOC strategy (ß = .28, p < .001) and negatively related with health prevention focus (ß = -.20, p < .001). SOC strategy was positively related with health promotion focus (ß = .39, p < .001) and bootstrapping analyses revealed that this strategy partially mediated the positive relationship between health promotion focus and ASP, 95% CI [.13, .29]. Finally, additional analyses showed that it was specifically the elective selection, optimization and compensation sub-components of SOC strategy which played mediating roles in this link, [.13, .29] < 95% CI < [.13, .29]. For the first time in the literature, these results evidenced direct links between health regulatory foci and sports practice, and a mechanistic pathway between health promotion focus and sports practice. The theoretical and applied implications of these results for sports promotion are discussed.

Enactive Phenomenological Approach to the Trier Social Stress Test: A Mixed Methods Point of View.

The single Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and the TSST for groups (TSST-G) are the most used protocols to experimentally induce psychosocial stress. These tests are based on uncontrollability and social-evaluative threat, inducing psychological and physiological consequences (e.g., anxiety, emotional states, salivary cortisol increases). Many quantitative experimental studies have investigated these stress inducers and these consequences. But, as far as we know, this study is the first to provide a qualitative analysis to access the participants' voices so as to understand the dynamics of their experience throughout the TSST and the TSST-G. This paper outlines a mixed methods approach to the TSST. This approach can help to maximize the information that can be gained from the TSST, which researchers often use without looking more closely at what is qualitatively happening psychologically for participants during the stressor itself. In this way, this protocol is an example of mixed methods, showing the added value of using the enactive phenomenological approach to analyze experimental protocols more deeply. This kind of mixed methods is helpful to access the experience, to understand the actor's point of view, and to analyze in-depth the dynamics of cognitive processes like intentions, perceptions, enacted knowledge, and emotion. The discussion section shows the different uses of a mixed methods protocol, exploiting the enactive phenomenological approach to analyze a protocol or to give a cross vision of the same research subject. This section deals with different existing applications, pointing out some critical steps in this mixed methods approach.

Social support from evaluative familiar persons - a buffer against stress? Preliminary evidence of neuroendocrine and psychological responses.

Background and Objectives: Social support may have a stress-buffering effect when an individual is or could be negatively judged by others, but paradoxically may also exacerbate stress. The aim of our study was to examine these findings when social support was provided by a positive or negative evaluative audience composed of familiar and close others (teachers). Design and Methods: 84 men were confronted with the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups through a 3 (negative, positive, no-audience) x 2 (familiar, unfamiliar) experimental design with four measurement points of cortisol levels and state anxiety. We also tested whether closeness with the committee members predicted these variables for the participants in the familiar conditions. Results: Using both a frequentist and a Bayesian approach, familiarity and social support did not have stress-buffering effects (or merely anecdotal effects) on cortisol levels but buffered self-reported anxiety only for the participants faced with a supportive audience composed of familiar persons. Closeness with the experimenters was not a significant predictor of the stress responses. Conclusions: Because these results are preliminary evidence, further investigations into the relations between support provider and recipient during evaluative tasks would be worthwhile to better explain opposing findings found in this growing literature.

[Physical activity during cancer: Can we define participants' profiles?] / Activité physique pendant un cancer : peut-on définir des profils de pratiquants ?

INTRODUCTION: Benefits of physical activity during cancer treatment are widely demonstrated, however, most of patients are not active enough. Several studies have analyzed the different variables that would affect the participation to physical activity programs. The aim of our study was to define profiles of patients who agree to participate in a physical activity program in the medical setting according to the hospital structure in which they receive their care, their past and present habits in sports and their temporal perspectives. METHOD: Forty-six patients treated from two different hospitals (regional hospital denoted CLCC; and local hospital denoted CH), completed a survey consisting of a questionnaire on their past and present habits in physical activity, ZTPI and a demographic questionnaire. Patients could decide to participate or not in a physical activity program in the medical community. T-tests and Chi2 were performed to compare the two groups. RESULTS: Chi2 tests have shown that patients cared in CH are significantly more involved in physical activity program than patients cared in CLCC. DISCUSSION: Our study points out that the past and present patient PA (physical activity) has no influence on their accession to a physical activity program, however the type of hospital providing patient care could influence their participation. These results should lead us to rethink about the different forms of communication made around the physical activity programs in medical contexts, and about different practical arrangements proposed according to each health facility.

The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation and the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework.

Two studies examined hypotheses drawn from a proposed modification of the social-cognitive model of achievement motivation that centered on the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework. Implicit theories of ability were shown to be direct predictors of performance attainment and intrinsic motivation, and the goals of the 2 x 2 framework were shown to account for these direct relations. Perceived competence was shown to be a direct predictor of achievement goals, not a moderator of relations implicit theory or achievement goal effects. The results highlight the utility of attending to the approach-avoidance distinction in conceptual models of achievement motivation and are fully in line with the hierarchical model of achievement motivation.

Choking under pressure and working memory capacity: when performance pressure reduces fluid intelligence.

Recent findings (Beilock & Carr, 2005) have demonstrated that only individuals with a high working memory capacity (WMC) "choke under pressure" on math problems with high working memory demands. This suggests that performance pressure hinders those who are the most qualified to succeed, because it consumes the WMC they usually rely on to achieve superior performance. This puts into question the use of performance in high-pressure situations as a means of distinguishing individuals with lesser or greater WMC potentials. While addressing several limitations of past research, we offer evidence that such choking (1) occurs only in individuals with high WMC, because of their anxiety-ridden perceptions of high-stakes situations, and (2) is not confined to tasks involving acquired skills and knowledge, but encompasses fluid reasoning abilities or intelligence (Gf). These findings have strong implications for assessments of people's intellectual capacities in academic, clinical, work, and research settings.

Implicit measures of beliefs about sport ability in swimming and basketball.

Sport ability may be seen as relatively stable, genetically determined and not easily modified by practice, or as increasable with training, work and effort. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the purpose of the present study is to examine whether the practice of a particular sport (swimming or basketball) can influence automatic beliefs about sport ability in these two sports. The IAT scores evidence that swimmers and basketball players automatically and implicitly associate their own sport with training rather than genetics, whereas non-sportspersons have no significant automatic association. This result is strengthened when perceived competence and intrinsic motivation in swimming or basketball are high.

The Influence of the 'Trier Social Stress Test' on Free Throw Performance in Basketball: An Interdisciplinary Study.

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between stress and sport performance in a controlled setting. The experimental protocol used to induce stress in a basketball free throw was the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and its control condition (Placebo-TSST). Participants (n = 19), novice basketball players but trained sportspersons, were exposed to two counterbalanced conditions in a crossover design. They were equipped with sensors to measure movement execution, while salivary cortisol and psychological state were also measured. The task consisted of two sequences of 40 free throws, one before either the TSST or Placebo-TSST and one after. Physiological and psychological measures evidenced that the TSST induced significant stress responses, whereas the Placebo-TSST did not. Shooting performance remained stable after the TSST but decreased after the Placebo-TSST. We found no effect of the TSST or Placebo-TSST on movement execution. A multivariate model of free throw performance demonstrated that timing, smoothness and explosiveness of the movements are more relevant to account for beginner's behavior than stress-related physiological and psychological states. We conclude that the TSST is a suitable protocol to induce stress responses in sport context, even though the effects on beginners' free throw performance and execution are small and complex.

Sex and Age Differences in the Endorsement of Sex Stereotypes Associated with Driving.

Sex and age differences are particularly pronounced in car accidents. Current psychological research is exploring the relationship between risky driving and compliance with sex stereotypes, notably conformity with social expectations concerning masculinity. Some studies have already shown that sex stereotypes associated with driving (SSAD) may influence driving behaviors. The aim of this research was to explore the participants' sex and age differences in SSAD endorsement. A questionnaire was developed and validated on four dimensions of SSAD: male's driving skills and female's compliance with traffic rules, courtesy behind the wheel, and risk avoidance in driving. SSAD endorsement was measured for 291 licensed drivers from 18 to 64 years of age. Results revealed that females endorsed the female's risk avoidance stereotype more (p < .05), whereas males endorsed the male drivers (driving skills) stereotype more (p < .05). Results also revealed that the endorsement of male's driving skills decreases with age (p < .01) and the endorsement of female's courtesy increases with age among all participants (p = .01), while the endorsement of female's compliance with traffic rules increases with age only among female participants (p < .05). The results are discussed in terms of in-group/out-group relations and sex and age differences.

Motivated use of information about others: linking the 2 × 2 achievement goal model to social comparison propensities and processes.

The present research used correlational and experimental methods and two well-established social comparison paradigms to integrate and extend prior research from the achievement goal and social comparison literatures. In Study 1, a general disposition to engage in social comparison was positively correlated with each type of goal in the 2 × 2 model of achievement goals, suggesting that the desire to seek out social comparison information is not exclusive to a particular type of achievement goal pursuit. In Study 2, when evaluating the specific direction of social comparison (upward or downward), the pursuit of performance-approach, mastery-approach, and mastery-avoidance goals facilitated upward social comparison, and the pursuit of performance-avoidance goals prompted a shift away from upward comparison towards downward comparison. The present findings provide new insight to the emerging integration of achievement goals and social comparison.

A subtle threat cue, heart rate variability, and cognitive performance.

This research was designed to extend the literature on heart rate variability (HRV) in cognitive performance contexts by examining whether a subtle threat cue (the color red) in a test environment influences HRV reactivity and whether HRV reactivity is associated with change in cognitive performance. Thirty-three participants took an IQ test, briefly viewed red or a chromatic or achromatic control color, and then took a parallel form of the IQ test. High frequency (HF)-HRV (often referred to as respiratory sinus arrhythmia), was assessed before and after the color manipulation. Results indicated that participants who viewed red (relative to a control color) exhibited a decrease in HF-HRV and that decreased HF-HRV was associated with worse IQ performance. These findings demonstrate the sensitivity of HRV as an index of effective and efficient emotion regulation in an achievement context.

Viewing red prior to a strength test inhibits motor output.

The present research was designed to examine whether viewing a subtle threat cue, the color red, prior to a simple motor task influences strength output. Thirty-nine participants performed a maximal voluntary contraction of the thigh, viewed red or a chromatic or achromatic control color, and then repeated the maximal voluntary contraction. Participants also reported their general arousal and mood, and were asked to guess the purpose of the experiment. Results indicated that viewing red (relative to a control color) inhibited the rate of force development, but did not influence the peak amplitude of force production. Null findings for general arousal and mood indicated that the observed effect on rate of force development could not be accounted for by these self-report variables; no participant correctly guessed the purpose of the experiment. This research, in conjunction with recent work by Elliot and Aarts (in press) [19] clearly establishes a link between red and basic motor output, and highlights the importance of attending to the functional, as well as aesthetic, value of color.