Physiological and perceptual responses to affect-regulated exercise in healthy young women.

The purpose of the study was to objectively measure the exercise intensity associated with affective responses of "good" and "fairly good." In Study 1, 8 active females completed 20 min of affect-regulated exercise to feel "good" or "fairly good" (order counterbalanced) followed by an intensity replication session. On-line gas analysis was used during the replication session to measure the physiological cost of exercising. In Study 2, 10 females completed either 3 trials of exercise to feel "good" (n = 5) or 3 trials to feel "fairly good" (n = 5). Each trial consisted of an affect-regulated session followed by a replication session. Across studies, the intensity to feel "fairly good" was significantly higher than to feel "good." Both intensities lay close to ventilatory threshold. The results add to evidence that women can use affect to regulate intensity and exercise at an intensity that would confer fitness and health benefits if maintained.

Motivational interviewing for screening and feedback and encouraging lifestyle changes to reduce relative weight in 4-8 year old children: design of the MInT study.

BACKGROUND: Because parental recognition of overweight in young children is poor, we need to determine how best to inform parents that their child is overweight in a way that enhances their acceptance and supports motivation for positive change. This study will assess 1) whether weight feedback delivered using motivational interviewing increases parental acceptance of their child's weight status and enhances motivation for behaviour change, and 2) whether a family-based individualised lifestyle intervention, delivered primarily by a MInT mentor with limited support from "expert" consultants in psychology, nutrition and physical activity, can improve weight outcomes after 12 and 24 months in young overweight children, compared with usual care. METHODS/DESIGN: 1500 children aged 4-8 years will be screened for overweight (height, weight, waist, blood pressure, body composition). Parents will complete questionnaires on feeding practices, physical activity, diet, parenting, motivation for healthy lifestyles, and demographics. Parents of children classified as overweight (BMI > or = CDC 85th) will receive feedback about the results using Motivational interviewing or Usual care. Parental responses to feedback will be assessed two weeks later and participants will be invited into the intervention. Additional baseline measurements (accelerometry, diet, quality of life, child behaviour) will be collected and families will be randomised to Tailored package or Usual care. Parents in the Usual care condition will meet once with an advisor who will offer general advice regarding healthy eating and activity. Parents in the Tailored package condition will attend a single session with an "expert team" (MInT mentor, dietitian, physical activity advisor, clinical psychologist) to identify current challenges for the family, develop tailored goals for change, and plan behavioural strategies that best suit each family. The mentor will continue to provide support to the family via telephone and in-person consultations, decreasing in frequency over the two-year intervention. Outcome measures will be obtained at baseline, 12 and 24 months. DISCUSSION: This trial offers a unique opportunity to identify effective ways of providing feedback to parents about their child's weight status and to assess the efficacy of a supportive, individualised early intervention to improve weight outcomes in young children. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12609000749202.

Pleasant for some and unpleasant for others: a protocol analysis of the cognitive factors that influence affective responses to exercise.

BACKGROUND: At exercise intensities around ventilatory threshold (VT), the extent to which individuals experience pleasure or displeasure from the exercise varies between individuals. One source of this variability is proposed to be the cognitive appraisal that occurs during the exercise which influences the generation of the affective response. When individuals self-select their own intensity they choose to exercise around VT and experience more positive affective responses, again the explanation being that cognitive appraisal processes influence the choice of intensity and resulting affective response. However, the specific factors that comprise this appraisal process have not been thoroughly explored. In addition, it is not clear if activity status influences this appraisal and different cognitive factors play a role in the generation of affective responses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the cognitive factors that influence the affective response experienced during prescribed and self-selected intensity exercise in low-active and high-active women. METHODS: Seventeen low-active and 15 high-active women (M age = 45 years, SD = 10) completed a graded exercise test and two 30 min bouts of treadmill exercise, one at a self-selected intensity and one prescribed at an intensity around VT. Using 'think aloud' procedures, every five min, the women were asked to provide an affective response and explain the thought processes that caused them to report that affective response. Using inductive content analysis, the verbal reports provided by the women were analysed for key themes and categories that emerged as explaining the factors that underpinned the generation of the affective response. Data from the low-active and high-active women were analysed separately. RESULTS: Concepts relating to pre-exercise affective state, perceptions of ability, immediate and anticipated outcomes, attentional focus and perceptions of control emerged. The physiological demands of the exercise stimulus influenced affective responses through themes related to the interpretation of physiological symptoms and the physiological state of the body. No thematic differences emerged between high-active and low-active women. CONCLUSION: Results highlight the complex interaction of psychological and physiological influences in producing an affective response to exercise and provide insight into how exercise can be structured to elicit positive affective responses.

Can the feeling scale be used to regulate exercise intensity?

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: It is important that individuals experience a positive affective response during exercise to encourage future behavior. Exercise intensity is a determinant of the affective response. Current research protocols have failed to find the intensity at which all individuals will experience this positive affective response. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether sedentary women could self-regulate their exercise intensity during exercise using the Hardy and Rejeski Feeling Scale (FS) to experience a specific positive affective state and to examine the specific intensities chosen and their consistency over exercise bouts. METHODS: Seventeen sedentary women completed eight 30-min laboratory-based treadmill exercise sessions (two sessions were completed each week). In four consecutive sessions, participants exercised at an intensity they perceived corresponded to an FS value of 1 (fairly good) and the other four sessions at an intensity corresponding to an FS value of 3 (good). Measures of exercise intensity were recorded. RESULTS: Participants exercised at a lower intensity to achieve an affective state of good (FS 3) compared with fairly good (FS 1). Both these intensities lay close to the individual's ventilatory threshold. The selected intensity was consistent across trials with intensity increasing across time to maintain the required affective state. CONCLUSIONS: Sedentary women can regulate intensity using the FS to experience a pleasant affective state, and the intensities chosen are physiologically beneficial for health and fitness.

The behavioral regulation in sport questionnaire (BRSQ): instrument development and initial validity evidence.

The purpose of the four studies described in this article was to develop and test a new measure of competitive sport participants' intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation (self-determination theory; Deci & Ryan, 1985). The items for the new measure, named the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ), were constructed using interviews, expert review, and pilot testing. Analyses supported the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and factorial validity of the BRSQ scores. Nomological validity evidence was also supportive, as BRSQ subscale scores were correlated in the expected pattern with scores derived from measures of motivational consequences. When directly compared with scores derived from the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS; Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand, Tuson, & Blais, 1995) and a revised version of that questionnaire (SMS-6; Mallett, Kawabata, Newcombe, Otero-Forero, & Jackson, 2007), BRSQ scores demonstrated equal or superior reliability and factorial validity as well as better nomological validity.

Mood, illness and injury responses and recovery with adventure racing.

OBJECTIVE: Exercise stress, immune status, and mood are interrelated. The stress of adventure racing is unique; exercise is very prolonged and competitive, with severe sleep deprivation and sustained cognitive demands, usually in arduous terrain and environmental conditions. The purpose of this prospective, descriptive study was to identify mood changes along with symptoms of illness and injury during and in the weeks following an international-level adventure race. METHODS: Mood, sleep, injury, and illness data were collected using questionnaires before, during, and for 2 weeks following New Zealand's Southern Traverse Adventure Race in November 2003. RESULTS: Mood was variable between athletes, but peaks of altered mood subscores were evident (P < .05) during the first 24 hours of racing, around race completion, and, as was hypothesized, 3 days after racing. Altered mood subscores resolved within 2 weeks. Symptoms of upper respiratory illness were most common immediately before (25/60, 42%) and after (28/49, 57%) racing, and largely resolved over the 2-week follow-up (5/27, 19%). Skin wounds and infections were common (43/49, 88%) immediately after the race but settled quickly. Pain was universal (100%), and musculoskeletal injury was common (38/48, 79%). Gastrointestinal complaints were common at the finish (8/49, 16%) and during the next 5 days but settled more quickly than upper respiratory symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Adventure racing of approximately 100 hours causes significant symptomatic injury and illness and mood state disruption, which generally resolve within a fortnight following racing. Disrupted mood and symptoms of illness and injury indicate athlete susceptibility to overreaching or overtraining without sufficient recovery.

A quantitative analysis and qualitative explanation of the individual differences in affective responses to prescribed and self-selected exercise intensities.

Using a mixed-method approach, the aim of this study was to explore affective responses to exercise at intensities below-lactate threshold (LT), at-LT, and above-LT to test the proposals of the dual-mode model. These intensities were also contrasted with a self-selected intensity. Further, the factors that influenced the generation of those affective responses were explored. Nineteen women completed 20 min of treadmill exercise at each intensity. Affective valence and activation were measured, pre-, during and postexercise. Afterward, participants were asked why they had felt the way they had during each intensity. Results supported hypotheses showing affect to be least positive during the above-LT condition and most positive during the self-selected and below-LT conditions. Individual differences were greatest in the below-LT and at-LT conditions. Qualitative results showed that factors relating to perceptions of ability, interpretation of exercise intensity, exercise outcomes, focus of concentration, and perceptions of control influenced the affective response and contributed to the individual differences shown in the quantitative data.

The psychological and physiological responses of sedentary individuals to prescribed and preferred intensity exercise.

OBJECTIVES: Affective valence responses to exercise may influence adherence. According to a newly proposed dual-mode model, affective responses have been proposed to vary depending on whether exercise is undertaken above or below the anaerobic threshold. With the model in mind, the study objectives were to explore the impact of an above-lactate, below-lactate, and self-selected exercise condition on acute affective responses in sedentary individuals. DESIGN: Using a repeated measures design, 12 volunteers participated in two prescribed intensity exercise conditions (above and below-lactate threshold) and one self-selected intensity exercise condition. The three conditions were randomized. METHOD: An incremental walking protocol was used to identify exercise intensities that would elicit above- and below-lactate threshold work rates for each participant. The exercise conditions were completed on different days and each lasted for 20 minutes. Physiological and affective responses were recorded pre-exercise, during exercise, and post-exercise. RESULTS: Affective responses were more negative in the above-lactate condition during exercise compared with the below-lactate and self-selected conditions. There were no differences between the conditions post-exercise. Participants exercised around the lactate threshold and at a significantly higher intensity in the self-selected compared with the below-lactate condition. Inter-individual variability in responses was greatest below the lactate threshold, with similar levels of variability in the self-selected and above-lactate conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Data are consistent with the proposals of the dual-mode model and support the use of self-selected intensity with sedentary individuals to promote positive affective responses.