Exercise Psychology

Question 1

Study: Framing Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults

Answer 1

Objective:
- To test the effectiveness of 3 methods to frame financial incentives to increase physical activity among overweight and obese adults.
Intervention:
- Delivered through an iPhone or Android smartphone with mobile application
- All participants selected whether they preferred to receive study communications by email, text, or both
Primary Outcome
- mean proportion of participant days that a 7000 step goal was achieved during the 13 week intervention
- 93% of participants carried their smartphone most or all of the time to record stop count
Intervention (3 financial incentives)
- Gain Incentive: received $1.40 for each day they met the targeted goal
- Loss Incentive: $1.40 was taken away from the month incentive ($42 up front) each time the daily goal was not met
- Lottery Incentive: selected two-digit number between 0-99. One winning number was selected daily and either a %5 or %50 prize was awarded depending on whether the match was 1 digit or 2 digit
- Control: no intervention but daily feedback
Conclusion: Financial incentives framed as a loss were most effective for achieving physical activity goals

Question 2

Informational approaches

Answer 2

• Increase activity by providing information necessary to motivate people to change their behaviour - and to maintain change over time
• information is intended to change knowledge about the benefits of activity, increase awareness of opportunities, overcoming barriers, increase participation
  Evaluation and Modification of Exercise Patterns in the Natural Environment

Question 3

Point-of-Decision Prompts

Answer 3

• Signs put by elevators to motivate people to use stairs
• signs thought to be effective by:
• a) reminding pre-dispositioned people to become more active
• b) show opportunities to be more active in community and show the health benefits from taking the stairs

Question 4

Bronwell et al. 1980

Answer 4

• evaluation of 21,091 observations of people going up stairs or escalators
  Setting
• six observers were located in three locations: shopping mall, train station, bus terminal
  observers assesses stair use
• observations were made on same day of the week and during the same hours
• reliability data were collected for each category
• exclusion: those with children or luggage
  Intervention:
• sign that encouraged stair use
  Discussion:
• the two studies demonstrate the utility of a simple paradigm for increasing activity in the natural environment

Question 5

Study: Point of Decision Prompts to Increase Stair Use

Answer 5

Conclusion: According to Community Guide rules of evidence, this review provides strong evidence that point of decision prompts contribute to modest increases in the percentage of people choosing to take the stairs rather than an elevator or escalator. The observed increases in the use of stairs may contribute to a modest improvement in daily physical activity that would have a cumulative effect caloric expenditure and, in turn, energy balance.

Question 6

Importance of moderate physical activity

Answer 6

• Relatively few people engage in vigorous activity therefore interventions such as walking or stair use hold more promise of increasing adherence to mild-to-moderate activities

Question 7

Team Building

Answer 7

• method of assisting the group to:
• increase effectiveness
• satisfy the needs of its members
• improve working conditions to enhance COHESION

Question 8

General team building strategies to improve team effectiveness

Answer 8

• Group goal setting: collective are either established or clarified and actions to achieve those goals are identified
• Interpersonal relationships: designed to improve relationships among members (e.g. communication)
• Individual role involvement: focus is to clarify team members’ roles and increase their role acceptance and conformity
• Managerial grid approach: provide group leaders with insights and strategies that will help them move an organization toward both enhanced productivity and increased concern for people.

Question 9

How effective has team building been in business and industry?

Answer 9

• of 126 intervention studies showed that team building was the most effective organizational development technique in changing individual satisfaction and attitude

Question 10

What is the direct team building approach?

indirect?

Answer 10

Direct Approach:
- the individual responsible for introducing and implementing the team building intervention works directly with the client (exerciser)
Indirect approach:
- the consultant works with the exercise leader, and then they introduce the team building interventions to group.

Question 11

What are the advantages of framework to understand group dynamics and team building

Answer 11

• facilitates communication with coach/leader because complex concepts can be simplified and more easily described
• interrelationship among the various components of the team building protocol can be highlighted
• the focus of the possible interventions can be more easily distinguished

Question 12

Study: Group Cohesion in Older Adult Exercisers: Prediction and Intervention Effects

Answer 12

Purpose:
- to test the hypothesis that a team building programme designed to enhance social and task cohesion would prove beneficial to the exercise adherence of older adults
Procedure
- 33 older adults, 12 assigned to team-building, 11 to placebo, and 10 to control
- cohesion assessed using the Group Environment Questionnaire during week 2 and at week 6–the end of the program
- exercise participation was operationalized as exercise attendance and return rate following a 10-week layoff
Experimental-Team Building:
- investigators and exercise class instructors engage in a brainstorming session to generate specific strategies to improve both task and social cohesion
- strategies designed to promote group distinctiveness, group goals, interaction, and communication
- one strategy used was the implementation of an instructor-led interaction period during the cool-down component of each class (socialization)
Placebo Control:
- visited weekly by a research assistant who expressed interest in individual progress and completed the exercise class with the participants. This ensured that the participants were consistently aware that they were being observed as part of an ongoing evaluation of the program
Control:
- received a basic fitness program. in all three conditions the instructor was friendly, reassuring, and helpful with skill development and offered juice and biscuits at the end of each class and there were no differences in the amount of contact time between groups and leaders in the three conditions.
Results:
- attendance is reported as the percent of classes attended
- return rate is reported as the percentage of participants who returned following a 10-week layoff
Conclusions
- findings showed that a TB intervention program (based on developing cohesion) had an effect on immediate and long-term attendance