Perceived Constraints to Pickleball Participation Among Black Older Adults.

Pickleball offers sociopsychological and physical activity benefits for older adults but lacks racial diversity. The purpose of this study was to identify constraints to pickleball participation with Black older adults (65+ years) as well as examine differences based on physical activity and sex. A Qualtrics panel included Black older adults (N = 292) who have heard of pickleball and are physically able to play but have not played. Results found Knowledge, Accessibility, Interpersonal, and Interest were the most salient constraints overall. Multivariate analysis of variance found that those who report low physical activity had significantly higher Interpersonal, Psychological, Costs, and Perceived Racism constraints. Additionally, females report significantly higher Knowledge, Psychological, and Cost constraints compared to males. The results further the theoretical application of constraints to physical activity research and provide insights into practitioner implications to grow the sport of pickleball for Black older adults.

Social media consumption and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown: the mediating effect of physical activity.

Introduction: Social media platforms played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to explore: (1) the changes in social media consumption patterns, physical activity levels/sedentary behavior, and depressive symptoms, and (2) how the changes in social media consumption patterns predict the changes in depressive symptoms while investigating the mediating role of changes in physical activity levels/sedentary behavior between before, and after the COVID-19 lockdown among U.S. adults with different age clusters. Methods: A total of 695 U.S. participants completed an online questionnaire via MTurk, and participants were asked to recall their social media consumption patterns, physical activity/sedentary behavior, depressive symptoms in January and May of 2020 while covariates included non-physical activity health behavior including diet quality, alcohol consumption, smoking, and sleep quality. Results: The results of Bayesian significance testing of changes showed that the older participants tended to spend more time with content-focused social media platforms during the lockdown. While significantly increased sitting time was reported by all age clusters, no significant changes were found in activity levels. Additionally, the middle-aged and older participants reported significantly higher depressive symptoms. The findings of a multigroup structural analysis showed the significant mediating effect of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on the relationship between changes in social media consumption and depressive symptoms. Discussion: This study highlights the need for targeting specific social media platforms for older adults and the importance of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity to alleviate the mental health issues resulting from social media consumption. The result of this study also highlights the need for sport-based intervention programs in the future and the need for more social media campaigns at the institution/organization levels established by public health stakeholders and policy makers to promote physical activity and maximize population perception and reach during the pandemic.

Sport participation, acculturative stress, and depressive symptoms among international college students in the United States.

Introduction: The distinctive social nature of sport in its capacity to promote immigrants' adaptation to the new society has been regarded as a vehicle to cope with adverse mental health outcomes derived from acculturative stress (AS) and feelings of marginalization. However, the evidence on the relationship between sport participation (SP), AS, and mental health have been lacking and fragmented. Recognizing this challenge, we examined the mediating effect of AS on the relationship between SP and depressive symptoms (DS) among international college students in the USA. Methods: A total of 203 international college students in the USA were recruited via Prolific. The instrumentation included previously validated measures: SP (SLIM-18), AS (ASSIS), DS (CES-D-10), sense of coherence (SOC-13), and demographic characteristics. Results: Mediation analysis showed a significant association between (1) SP and DS (ß = -0.030, p < 0.05) and (2) AS and DS (ß = 0.053, p < 0.001), while (3) no significant indirect effect of AS was found [ß = -0.001, SE = 0.0003, 95% CI (-0.008, 0.004)]. Discussion: Even though several previous scholars have argued that SP is an effective tool to cope with AS among international students, the present study implies this may not be applied to all international students. Specifically, AS and DS among European participants were lower than those from non-European countries, including Asia. Future studies using meta-analysis could be beneficial to examine the external validity of the previous studies on the relationship between SP, acculturation, and mental health to address this potential heterogeneity on the level of AS based on their origin countries or continents. The current study provides meaningful implications for adopting the transformative marketing perspective, which is a marketing approach that pursues positive social outcomes by promoting positive behavior of the target population.

Investigating the Social Network Structure of Physical Literacy Scholars to Advance a Paradigm for Physical Activity Promotion.

Purpose: Physical literacy has quickly gained global attention as a holistic approach to combat physical inactivity and obesity. However, research silos may limit the growth and application of the physical literacy paradigm for effective physical activity promotion. The purpose of this study was to measure the underlying network structure of scholars publishing on physical literacy (focusing on empirical research) through co-authorship analysis. Methods: Data collection resulted in 1,070 documents related to physical literacy retrieved. A total of 198 articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the full network, with authors operationalized as actors in the network. A total of 75 empirical studies were included in the sub-network for critical appraisal and further analysis. Social network analysis was then conducted at the macro- and component-level, using quantification and visualization techniques. Results: Results revealed a collaborative, yet fragmented physical literacy network with sub-groups representing substantive and geographically diverse scholars. The majority of scholarship lacked empirical evidence, suggesting a research-practice gap. Conclusion: Recommendations for advancing physical literacy research and practice include strategic collaborations that transcend geographic and disciplinary boundaries, cooperative efforts across scholars and practitioners, and productive discourse through professional avenues to progress knowledge generation, dispersion, and application.

Changes in Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms During COVID-19 Lockdown: United States Adult Age Groups.

This study investigates: (1) the changes in three major health-related factors-physical activity, non-physical-activity health behavior (i.e., diet quality, alcohol consumption, smoking, sleep quality), and depressive symptoms, and (2) how changes in physical activity were associated with changes in one's depressive symptoms among young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults while controlling non-physical-activity health behavior and sociodemographic characteristics among young, middle-aged, and older adults before and after the COVID-19 outbreak lockdown in the United States. A total of 695 participants completed an online questionnaire via MTurk, and participants were asked to recall their physical activity, depressive symptoms, and non-physical-activity health behavior status in January and May of 2020. The IPAQ-SF was used to evaluate individuals' physical activity, while the CES-D-10 was used to assess depressive symptoms. Covariates included non-physical-activity health behavior and sociodemographic factors. A Bayesian significance testing of changes was used to examine significant changes in physical activity, non-physical-activity behavior, and depressive symptoms in each age group while Bayesian regression analysis was employed to examine how the changes in physical activity were associated with respondents' depressive symptoms while controlling for individual NHB and sociodemographic characteristics. The results showed that the participants tended to maintain their physical activity levels after the lockdown despite significant increases in sitting time among young and older adults. Decreases in moderate physical activity frequency were associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms (R 2 = 17.1%). Although young and middle-aged cohorts experienced fewer differences in depressive symptoms compared to their counterparts in the older group, we found no significant heterogeneity effects in the relationships of interest across all age groups. Considering different influences of physical activity on depressive symptoms depending on different levels of activity and ages, more randomized clinical trials with program-based intervention studies should be conducted with different physical activity programs for different age populations.