Physical activity and health-related quality of life among elementary students: an integrated perspective

School physical education (PE) not only offers and promotes health-related physical activity, but also encompasses the promotion and development of perceptions of mental health (USDHHS, 2010). It has been suggested that health-related quality of life (HRQOL) can predict future health, monitor children’s psychosocial health, and identify those most at risk or in need of support at an early stage. Assessing physical activity (PA) and health-related quality of life have become major issues in pediatric public health and also serve as a major goal of Health people 2020 (USDHHS, 2010). Research including assessment of theory-based mediators of health-related outcomes is needed (Ryan, Patrick, Deci, & Williams, 2008). Grounded in the expectancy-value (Eccles., 1983) and achievement goal (Ames, 1992a, 1992b) frameworks, the primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among the perceptions of motivational climate in PE, expectancy-value beliefs, intention to participate in PE, HRQOL, and PA among elementary children. A secondary purpose was to examine gender and racial differences in students’ motivation in physical education, intention, HRQOL and PA. Participants were 336 elementary school physical education students from three schools in the southeast US. They completed surveys and wore pedometers during three days of physical education classes. The findings support the assertion that children with higher expectancy beliefs were more likely to be physically active and report higher HRQOL than those with low levels of expectancy beliefs. Perception of a mastery motivational climate together with positive expectancy beliefs could be an advantage for physical and psychosocial health among children in this study, whereas perception of a performance motivational climate was associated with less physical activity (i.e. lower steps/min) during PE even if students view PE as important, interesting and useful. There were gender and race differences on children’s motivation, HRQOL and PA during PE, which suggests that interventions aimed at preventing physical inactivity and developing optimal mental health should be tailored to individual needs in light of those differences. This research may provide useful information on the translation of theory to practice designed to influence children’s health perceptions and behaviors

Effects of Weight Status and Sedentary Behavior on Depression among Young Adults

It has been a global concern that nearly one-third of young adults have persistent depressive disorder (Ibrahim et al., 2013). Engaging in excessive sedentary behavior coupled with the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among young adults have been known to be high-risk factors for depression (Tychenne et al., 2015). PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of weight status (normal weight vs. overweight/obese) and sedentary behavior (\u3c 3 hrs vs. ³ 3 hrs) among male and female young adults, respectively. METHODS: A total of 139 young adults (96 females, 43 males; mean age = 22.44, SD = 3.71) were recruited from one public university in Northern Texas. Participants’ body mass index (BMI) was calculated from self-reported height and weight. Depression was assessed by a 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977). Sedentary behavior was measured using accelerometers over 7 days from 8:00am-8:00pm. The 2 (normal weight vs. overweight/obese) by 2 (\u3c 3 hrs vs. ³ 3 hrs) univariate analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were performed to test the group differences on depression for both females and males, respectively. RESULTS: Among the participants, 54% were normal weight (BMI \u3c 25) and 46% were overweight and obese (BMI ³ 25); 61% of participants spent less than 3 hours daily being sedentary and the remaining spent 3 or more hours daily. These young adults had an average of 11.07 on the depression scale with 19.6% categorized with depressive symptoms (CES-D score ³ 16; Radloff, 1977). No statistical significance of depression between groups was observed in this sample of young adults (p \u3e .05). It was noticed that overweight/obese females tend to have a higher risk of depression when they spent more than 3 hours being sedentary (13.20 vs. 10.15; d = .51) compared to their counterparts. Regardless of their weight status, young adult males reported higher depression when sitting for more than 3 hours daily (10.83 vs. 9.6; d = .15). CONCLUSION: The present study indicated that sedentary behavior plays an important role in the tendency of depressive symptoms among young adults, regardless of weight status. Reducing sedentary behavior (\u3c 3 hrs daily) is recommended for both female and male young adults, especially overweight/obese females

Accessing Sleep, Sedentary Behaviors, and Physical Activity among College students: The Roles of Ethnicity and Obesity

Physical inactivity/sedentary behavior and sleep disorder have been identified as emerging public health problems. Only half of on-campus college students report meeting recommended moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and over 60% of US adults between the ages of 20–39 years were either overweight or obese. PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to: 1) identify the relationships between physical activity (light PA [LPA], MVPA), sedentary behavior, and sleep patterns among college students; and 2) examine the effects of the ethnicity (Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic) and obesity (normal weight vs. overweight/obese) on study variables. METHODS: There were 139 college students participated in the study (89 non-Hispanics; 96 females; Mage = 22.2 ± 3.71). Among them, 56% were normal weight and 44% were overweight/obese (BMI ³ 25). The accelerometer (ActiGraph GT9X) was used to assess sleep patterns (i.e., sleep efficiency, number of awakenings, and awakening length), LPA, MVPA, and sedentary behavior. Data was analyzed using descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and a 2 (Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic) x 2 (normal weight vs. overweight/obese) multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) by controlling for gender. RESULTS: College students experienced fair sleep efficiency (M = 86.42) but more sleep disturbances with an average of 24 awakenings per night lasting 2.77 minutes per time. College students spent 55.2%, 16.2%, and 28.6%% of their time in LPA, MVPA, and sedentary behavior, respectively. Only MVPA was positively associated with sleep patterns (awakening length; r = 0.19, p \u3c 0.05), but not with LPA and sedentary behavior. The MANCOVA resulted no statistically significant group differences among study variables (p \u3e .05). It was noticed that Hispanic students had less sleep efficiency (d = .23) and more awakenings (d = .33) than non-Hispanic peers. Hispanic children also showed slightly more MVPA (d = .06) and spent more time being sedentary (d = 0.09) than non-Hispanic peers. Compared to normal-weight peers, overweight/obese college students had lower sleep efficiency (d = .18) and spent more time on MVPA (d = .05) and sedentary behavior (d = 0.22). CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that MVPA during weekdays might have negative effects on sleep quality among this population regardless of their sedentary behavior. The study provides a unique perspective of factors (i.e., ethnicity and obesity) associated with movement behaviors among college students which allow for targeted interventions to improve the health of young adults

Physical Fitness Promotion among Adolescents: Effects of a Jump Rope-Based Physical Activity Afterschool Program

Article examines the effects of a jump rope-based physical activity afterschool program on middle school students’ physical fitness. This article belongs to the special issue Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Health Interventions in Children and Adolescents

Eyes and Ears: Cross-Modal Interference of Tinnitus on Visual Processing

The visual processing capacity of tinnitus patients is worse than normal controls, indicating cross-modal interference. However, the mechanism underlying the tinnitus-modulated visual processing is largely unclear. In order to explore the influence of tinnitus on visual processing, this study used a signal recognition paradigm to observe whether the tinnitus group would display a significantly longer reaction time in processing the letter symbols (Experiment 1) and emotional faces (Experiment 2) than the control group. Signal detection and signal recognition, which reflect the perceptual and conceptual aspects of visual processing respectively, were manipulated individually in different conditions to identify the pattern of the cross-modal interference of tinnitus. The results showed that the tinnitus group required a significantly prolonged reaction time in detecting and recognizing the letter symbols and emotional faces than the control group; meanwhile, no between-group difference was detected in signal encoding. In addition, any gender- and distress-modulated effects of processing were not found, suggesting the universality of the present findings. Finally, follow-up studies would be needed to explore the neural mechanism behind the decline in speed of visual processing. The positive emotional bias in tinnitus patients also needs to be further verified and discussed.Highlights:- The bottom-up visual processing speed is decreased in tinnitus patients.- Tinnitus primarily interferes with the detection of the visual signals in individuals

Loss of Vision Dominance at the Preresponse Level in Tinnitus Patients: Preliminary Behavioral Evidence

At present, the mechanisms underlying changes in visual processing in individuals with tinnitus remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated whether the vision dominance of individuals with tinnitus disappears at the preresponse level through behavioral study. A total of 38 individuals with tinnitus and 31 healthy controls completed a task in which they were asked to attend to either visual or auditory stimuli while ignoring simultaneous stimulus inputs from the other modality. We manipulated three levels of congruency between the simultaneous visual and auditory inputs: congruent (C), incongruent at the preresponse level (PRIC), and incongruent at the response level (RIC). Thus, we differentiated the cross-modal conflict explicitly into the preresponse (PRIC > C) and response (RIC > PRIC) levels. The results revealed no significant difference in the size of the preresponse level conflict between the auditory attention and visual attention conditions in tinnitus group. In brief, the preresponse level of individuals with tinnitus showed a loss in vision dominance. This may be due to the reduced interference of visual information in auditory processing

Psychosocial Mechanism of Adolescents’ Depression: A Dose-Response Relation with Physical Activity

The article highlights a study aimed (1) to examine the relations between different doses of physical activity (PA), light PA (LPA), moderate PA (MPA), and vigorous PA (VPA), academic self-efficacy, and depression among adolescents, and (2) to investigate the direct and indirect relations of various doses of PA to depression through academic self-efficacy among middle school adolescents. Findings of this study indicated that academic self-efficacy regulates adolescents’ depression. Tailoring different intensities of PA benefits adolescents’ academic self-efficacy by framing the positive and supportive environment in schools, which can potentially reduce the prevalence of depression during adolescence

The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on physical activity in U.S. children

This article examines the impact of the pandemic on the physical activity and play behavior of U.S. children and to provide evidence based recommendations to improve their physical activity