The Frustration of Novelty and Basic Psychological Needs as Predictors of Maladaptive Outcomes in Physical Education

Background The need for novelty has been recently proposed as a candidate need within basic psychological needs theory (BPNT). In physical education (PE), research has shown that meeting students’ need for novelty is often positively associated with enhanced (and negatively associated with impaired) pupils’ well-being. Frustrating students’ novelty has also been negatively related to achieving multiple positive outcomes in PE. However, no research has explored whether frustration of novelty is positively associated with maladaptive consequences for pupils in this educational context, which is a necessary criterion to be included within BPNT. Purpose In this correlational study, we aimed to determine whether frustration of novelty was associated with up to 10 maladaptive outcomes in a similar way as the frustration of the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness). The maladaptive outcomes analyzed were amotivation, boredom, negative affect, entity beliefs, fear of failure, worry, concentration disruption, somatic and social physique anxiety, and oppositional defiance. Research design Cross-sectional study. Methods A total of 533 students (Mage = 14.47, SD = 1.34; 56.66% female) from eight secondary schools completed online questionnaires assessing their basic psychological needs frustration, novelty frustration and diverse maladaptive outcomes in PE. Pearson's correlations and hierarchical regression analyses controlling by sex, age, and race, were calculated to test the associations among these variables. Findings The correlation coefficients for novelty frustration were like those found for the three basic psychological needs concerning maladaptive outcomes in PE students. Particularly, hierarchical regression analyses showed that frustrating novelty in PE predicted amotivation (β = .11, p = .039), boredom (β = .23, p < .001), entity beliefs (β = .12, p = .039), and concentration disruption (β = .12, p = .049). Conclusions Results showed that novelty frustration was positively related to experiencing some negative consequences in PE, which is an important criterion within BPNT. Future training programs aimed at promoting optimal (and preventing detrimental) motivational styles in PE teachers could use these results to optimize students’ PE experiences

Changes in bariatric patients’ physical activity levels and health-related quality of life following a postoperative motivational physical activity intervention

Purpose: Self-determination theory (SDT) has been widely used as a useful motivational framework for improving long-term adherence to physical activity (PA) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 6-month motivational PA intervention (MPAI) on bariatric patients’ PA levels and HRQoL from pre-surgery to the end of the MPAI (7 months post-surgery). Additionally, a re-test was performed 13 months post-surgery. Methods: 40 participants undergoing sleeve gastrectomy were assigned to a 6-month MPAI or to a control group. The MPAI was based on techniques and messages from SDT. At baseline and post-intervention measures, both groups wore accelerometers for one week and completed the SF-36 questionnaire. Results: 32 participants (78.1% female) completed all measures and were included in the final analyses. PA levels did not significantly differ between groups as a consequence of the intervention. Clinically significant differences (d ≥ 0.5) favoring the MPAI group were found for SF-36 domains of bodily pain (at pre-surgery, increasing at 7- and 13-months post-surgery), general health and vitality (7 months post-surgery), and physical functioning and the physical component score (both 7- and 13-months post-surgery). Social functioning also showed clinically significant differences favoring the MPAI group at pre-surgery, increasing at 7 months post-surgery. These differences disappeared at 13 months post-surgery. Conclusions: SDT-based PA interventions could enhance several dimensions of bariatric patients’ HRQoL after surgery. Further research is needed to understand what motivational processes are key aspects to promote PA participation in these patients

A self-determined exploration of adolescents’ and parents’ experiences derived from a multidimensional school-based physical activity intervention

Purpose: Adolescents’ and parents’ experiences within a multidimensional schoolbased physical activity intervention grounded on self-determination theory were explored. Method: Qualitative data from 29 adolescents (aged 15-17 years) and three parents on behalf of the total students' families were collected via participant observation (research diary), semistructured interviews, and focus groups. Results: Adolescents perceived that the application of motivational strategies, based on selfdetermination theory, satisfied their basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, favored self-determined motivation, and gave rise to adaptive consequences (improved physical activity knowledge, creation of affective bonds, and increased leisure-time physical activity). These results were supported by the information reported by the students' parents. Discussion/Conclusions: The findings support the implementation of self-determination theory-based multidimensional interventions to promote adolescents’ physical activity participation. This study also presents several motivational strategies which could be useful for the design and implementation of future school-based physical activity intervention

Injury incidence, characteristics and burden among female sub-elite futsal players: A prospective study with three-year follow-up

The main purpose of the current study was to analyze the injury incidence, characteristics and burden among sub-elite female futsal players. Individual exposure to match play and training, injury incidence and characteristics (player position, injury mechanism, type of injuries, severity of injuries, recurrent versus new injuries, season variation of injury pattern) in a female futsal team were prospectively recorded for three consecutive seasons (2015-2018). Incidences were calculated per 1000 hours of exposure. A total of 30 injuries were reported during the three seasons within a total exposure of 4446.1 hours. The overall, match and training incidence of injuries were 6.7, 6.4 and 6.8 injuries/1000 hours of exposure, respectively. Most injuries had a non-contact mechanism (93%), with the lower extremity being the most frequently injured anatomical region (5.62 injuries/1000 hours of exposure). The most common type of injury was muscle/tendon (4.9 injuries/1000 hours of exposure) followed by joint (non-bone) and ligament (1.3 injuries/1000 hours of exposure). The injuries with the highest injury burden were those that occurred at the knee (31.9 days loss/1000 hours exposure), followed by quadriceps (15.3 day loss/1000 hours) and hamstring (14.4 day loss/1000 hours) strains. The first few weeks of competition after pre-season and soon after the Christmas break were the time points when most injuries occurred. These data indicate that sub-elite female futsal players are exposed to a substantial risk of sustaining an injury. To reduce overall injury burden, efforts should be directed toward the design, implementation and assessment of preventative measures that target the most common diagnoses, namely, muscle/tendon and ligament injuries

Physical education and school bullying: a systematic review

Objectives: To evaluate the associations of physical education (PE) with school violence and bullying. Design: Systematic review. Method: Using a systematic search in Medline, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Scopus, relevant studies with a quantitative and qualitative design were identified that met previously established eligibility criteria. Quality was assessed (bias risk analysis) and data were extracted from a previously elaborated template. Results: The systematic review finally included 16 studies, of which 10 had a quantitative design (n = 12795), 5 a qualitative design (n = 79) and 1 a mixed design (n = 86). The high heterogeneity presented by the measures used in the included studies hindered the comparison of the outcomes and prevented meta-analysis of the data. Although there is insufficient evidence about the positive impact of PE on bullying prevention, the results of this review indicate that some aspects of PE programs could improve students’ skills to cope with these situations. Conclusions: The results of this review suggest the importance of PE in the prevention of bullying. Secondly, it is emphasized that bullying situations have a negative impact on students’ enjoyment of PE, leading to detrimental consequences for their physical and psychological health. Thirdly, the figure of the PE teacher as a key element to prevent and/or encourage bullying was obvious

“To be myself again”: Perceived benefits of group-based exercise for colorectal cancer patients.

Purpose: To explore the perceived benefits of a group-based exercise program for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with all participants (n = 25) at the end of the exercise program (patients, relatives and healthcare professionals). The exercise instructor in charge of the exercise program with CRC patients also collected observational field notes throughout a research diary. Results: Three main themes related to exercise as a coping strategy were obtained: (a) physical recovery; (b) psychosocial well-being, and (c) reconnection with their embodied selves and normal lives. Physical recovery included a perceived increase in fitness and a reduction in physical side-effects. Psychosocial well-being included perceived benefits in self-confidence, sense of control, reduced fear, feeling of being useful, sense of achievement, positive thinking and avoiding depression. All the physical and psychosocial benefits helped patients reconnect with their embodied selves, engage in activities practised before the diagnoses, improve their body image, avoid stigma, and increase their social life beyond cancer diagnoses. In this sense, some patients held on to their past selves, trying to keep or recover normality in their lives, while others acknowledged that they might not be the same person anymore, with exercise being part of this new identity. Conclusions: This study shows that exercise is a coping strategy that benefitted CRC patients in several ways related to their physical and psychosocial quality of life

Exploring the socio-ecological factors behind the (in)active lifestyles of Spanish post-bariatric surgery patients

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) is considered essential for the treatment of morbid obesity and the optimization of bariatric surgery outcomes. The objective of this article was to identify the facilitators and barriers that bariatric patients perceived to do PA one year after finishing a PA programme for the promotion of a long-term active lifestyle. This objective was addressed from a socio-ecological and qualitative perspective. Methods: Nine patients (eight women and one man), aged between 31 and 59 years, participated in semi-structured interviews directly following the PA programme and one year after it. A content analysis was carried out to analyze the qualitative data. Results: Weight loss, improvement of physical fitness, perceived competence, and enjoyment were the main facilitators of PA. Complexes related to skin folds, osteoarthritis, perceived unfavourable weather conditions, lack of social support and economic resources, long workdays, lack of specific PA programmes, and other passive leisure preferences were the main barriers to participate in PA. Conclusions: Results highlight the important interplay between personal, social environmental, and physical environmental factors to explain (in)active behaviours of bariatric patients. The findings of this article could be useful for future research and interventions aimed at promoting PA in bariatric patients

Healthism and the experiences of social, healthcare and self-stigma of women with higher weight

This study analyses how the discourse of healthism contributes to the social construction of weight stigma in women with higher-weight. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine women who had undergone bariatric surgery and had lived with higher-weight during many years. A thematic analysis from a latent and constructionist perspective showed how the discourse of healthism was behind the experiences of stigma lived by the participants in the social and healthcare field. Even instances of self-stigma were found in our data. This study also illustrates how people influenced by healthism assumed individualism and the importance of body shape, core values of neoliberal consumer societies. In this way, people tended to blame women with higher-weight for their weight and to discriminate against for being far from the socially established ideal body. The findings can be useful to prevent weight stigmatization and to promote more appropriate and respectful strategies for obesity prevention and treatment

Bariatric patients are them, and their circumstances”: Psychosocial processes behind their (in)active lifestyles

This PhD thesis includes a set of studies addressing 1) psychosocial effects of surgery and physical activity (PA) in bariatric patients, 2) the role of social discourses such as healthism in the experiences of weight stigmatization, 3) changes on bariatric patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL), PA levels, and exercise motivation derived from a postoperative motivational PA program, and 4) facilitators and barriers perceived by bariatric patients to do PA one year after finishing this program. Overall, this thesis examines the psychosocial processes hidden behind the (non)acquisition of an active lifestyle by this population. Taking these processes into account, the role of a postoperative PA intervention based on a motivational framework to promote long-term active lifestyles in these patients is also explored. Data were obtained from both quantitative and qualitative techniques. The document begins with a review of the literature on the psychosocial effects of surgery and PA in bariatric patients. Afterwards, four studies are presented. Study 1 qualitatively explores how weight stigma is constructed, manifested and maintained by the social discourse of healthism through experiences of social, healthcare and self-stigma in women who had lived with morbid obesity. It also examined the role that healthism plays in the construction of some theoretical dimensions of stigma that are closely linked to weight stigma. In brief, this study brings to light the neoliberal values associated with healthism, which are manifested in the day-to-day lives of people with obesity, causing situations of stigmatization and discrimination that ultimately promote inequality and social injustice. Study 2 analyses the effects of a 6-month postoperative motivational PA intervention on bariatric patients’ PA levels and HRQoL from pre-surgery to the end of the intervention (7 months post-surgery) and 13 months post-surgery. The program was based on self-determination theory. Results of this study showed that PA levels did not significantly differ between experimental and control groups as a consequence of the intervention. Nonetheless, clinically significant differences favoring the experimental group were found for several dimensions of bariatric patients’ HRQoL. Based on this work, the Study 3 examines the associations between bariatric patients’ motivation and PA levels after the intervention. It also explores how patients’ perception of autonomy support and basic psychological need satisfaction during the program were associated with changes in their motivation to exercise. Results illustrated decreases in controlled forms of motivation and amotivation, which were related to higher PA. However, introjected regulation increased, and it was also related to higher PA. On the other hand, bariatric surgery patients perceived a high autonomy support and satisfied their basic psychological needs during the program, which were associated with positive changes in their exercise motivation. Finally, from a socio-ecological and qualitative perspective, Study 4 identifies the facilitators and barriers that bariatric patients perceived to do PA one year after finishing the PA program. It revealed that both individual (in a psycho-physical sense) and environment (understood as a blend of familial, social, economic and atmospheric conditions) played a major role in the consolidation of (in)active lifestyles of bariatric patients. Taken the results of the studies together, this PhD thesis ends by proposing some practical implications and conclusions which could be useful for health professionals. Future research directions emerging from this work are also mentioned.Esta tesis doctoral incluye un conjunto de estudios sobre 1) efectos psicosociales de la cirugía y de la actividad física (AF) en pacientes bariátricos, 2) el rol de discursos sociales como el salutismo en las experiencias de estigmatización de las personas con elevado peso corporal, 3) cambios en la calidad de vida percibida, niveles de AF, y motivación hacia el ejercicio de los pacientes bariátricos derivados de un programa postoperatorio y motivacional de AF, y 4) facilitadores y barreras percibidas por los pacientes bariátricos para hacer AF un año después de acabar dicho programa. En general, la tesis examina los procesos psicosociales que se esconden detrás de la (no)adquisición de un estilo de vida activo por parte de esta población. Teniendo en cuenta estos procesos, se explora también el papel de una intervención postoperatoria de AF basada en un marco teórico motivacional para promocionar los estilos de vida activos de los pacientes bariátricos a largo plazo. Los datos fueron obtenidos a través de técnicas cuantitativas y cualitativas. El documento empieza con una revisión de la literatura sobre los efectos de la cirugía y de la AF en pacientes bariátricos. Después, se presentan cuatro estudios. El Estudio 1 explora cualitativamente como el estigma del peso es construido, manifestado y mantenido por el discurso social del salutismo a través de experiencias de estigmatización social, sanitaria, e incluso de autoestigmatización en mujeres que vivieron con obesidad mórbida. Se examina también el rol que juega el salutismo en la construcción de algunas dimensiones teóricas del estigma que se relacionan estrechamente con el estigma del peso corporal. De forma resumida, este estudio pone de manifiesto los valores neoliberales asociados al salutismo, que se manifiestan en el día a día de las personas con obesidad, causando situaciones de estigmatización y discriminación que promueven la desigualdad y la injusticia social. El Estudio 2 analiza los efectos de una intervención postoperatoria y motivacional de AF de 6 meses de duración sobre los niveles de AF y calidad de vida percibida de los pacientes bariátricos desde la pre-cirugía hasta el final de la intervención (7 meses post-cirugía) y 13 meses post-cirugía. El programa se basó en la teoría de la autodeterminación. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron que los niveles de AF no difirieron significativamente entre el grupo experimental y control como consecuencia de la intervención. No obstante, se encontraron diferencias clínicamente significativas a favor del grupo experimental para varias dimensiones de la calidad de vida percibida por los pacientes. Basado en este trabajo, el Estudio 3 examina las asociaciones entre la motivación de los pacientes bariátricos y sus niveles de AF después de la intervención. También explora la forma en la que su percepción del apoyo a la autonomía y la satisfacción de sus necesidades psicológicas básicas durante el programa se asociaron con los cambios en su motivación hacia el ejercicio. Los resultados ilustraron disminuciones en formas controladas de motivación y desmotivación, las cuales se relacionaron con mayores niveles de AF. No obstante, su regulación introyectada aumentó, y también se relacionó con realizar más AF. Por otro lado, los pacientes bariátricos percibieron un alto apoyo a la autonomía y satisficieron sus necesidades psicológicas básicas durante el programa, lo que se asoció con cambios positivos con su motivación hacia el ejercicio. Finalmente, desde una perspectiva socioecológica y cualitativa, el Estudio 4 identifica los facilitadores y las barreras que los pacientes bariátricos percibieron para hacer AF un año después de finalizar el programa motivacional de AF. El trabajo reveló que tanto el individuo (en un sentido psicofísico) como el ambiente (entendido como una mezcla de condiciones familiares, sociales, económicas y atmosféricas) juegan un papel muy relevante a la hora de consolidar los estilos de vida (in)activos de los pacientes bariátricos. Tomando en conjunto los resultados de los estudios, esta tesis doctoral finaliza proponiendo algunas implicaciones prácticas y conclusiones que podrían ser de utilidad para los profesionales de la salud. Algunas futuras líneas de investigación derivadas de este trabajo también son mencionadas

Exploring bariatric patients’ need for novelty in a motivational physical activity program: A qualitative study

The need for novelty has recently been proposed as a candidate basic psychological need within self-determination theory. The aim of this qualitative study was to throw more light on this issue, by exploring the perceived importance that bariatric patients gave to novelty in general life and in a physical activity program in which they participated, which included novelty support strategies. Participants were ten people (nine women and one man) aged between 31 and 59 years (M = 45.90, SD = 9.25) who had lived with morbid obesity and who had undergone bariatric surgery. Qualitative data about the importance of novelty in their life and in the physical activity program were collected through semi-structured interviews. Participants described the important role of novelty in life to break the routine and to avoid boredom, lack of interest, depression, and withdrawal from daily life activities. Regarding the physical activity program, they highlighted that the presence of novel activities was related to their curiosity, enjoyment, and knowledge acquisition. Participants indicated that novelty was a key element for the success of the program because only a traditional intervention with machines for endurance and strength training would be boring for them. This research has shown that novelty need is present in the life of bariatric surgery patients, and its satisfaction could be related to different positive outcomes and well-being in life and in an exercise context.La necesidad de novedad ha sido propuesta recientemente como una necesidad psicológica básica dentro de la teoría de la autodeterminación. El objetivo de este artículo cualitativo fue arrojar más luz en este sentido, al explorar la importancia que los pacientes bariátricos dieron a la novedad en su vida en general y en un programa de actividad física en el que participaban, el cual incluyó estrategias de apoyo a la novedad. Los participantes fueron diez pacientes (nueve mujeres y un hombre) de edades comprendidas entre 31 y 59 años (M = 45.90, DT = 9.25) que habían vivido con obesidad mórbida y que se habían operado de cirugía bariátrica. Se recogieron datos cualitativos sobre la importancia de la novedad en sus vidas y en el programa de actividad física a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas. Los participantes describieron el papel relevante de la novedad en su vida para romper con la rutina y para evitar el aburrimiento, la falta de interés, la depresión, y el abandono de actividades cotidianas. Respecto al programa de actividad física, destacaron que la presencia de actividades novedosas estuvo relacionada con su curiosidad, disfrute, y adquisición de conocimiento. Los participantes indicaron que la novedad fue un elemento clave para el éxito del programa porque una intervención tradicional basada en máquinas para el trabajo de resistencia y fuerza sería aburrida para ellos. Esta investigación mostró que la necesidad de novedad está presente en la vida de los pacientes bariátricos, y que su satisfacción podría estar relacionada con diferentes resultados positivos y con su bienestar en la vida y en un contexto de ejercicio