The Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale: Translation and Evidence for Cross-Cultural Validity

The present study reports on the psychometric evaluation and cross-cultural validity of the Basic Psychological Needs in Exercise Scale (BPNES; Vlachopoulos & Michailidou, 2006) translated from Greek into English. The data obtained from 346 British exercise participants supported the hypothesized 3-factor structure,showed satisfactory internal reliability coefficients, and offered evidence for the factor concurrent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the translated scale.Cross-cultural validity analyses across British and Greek participants supported configural invariance and partial metric, partial strong, and partial strict factorial invariance of the BPNES responses. The findings provide promising evidence for the validity and reliability of the translated BPNES and support the use of the scale in single-culture and cross-culture exercise-related motivational research within the self-determination theory framework

POSITIVE RELATIONS OF PHYSICAL FITNESS AND EXERCISE INTERVENTION PROGRAMS WITH MOTOR COMPETENCE AND HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN DEVELOPMENTAL COORDINATION DISORDER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is an impairment in the development of motor coordination creating varied problems and difficulties in children’s and adolescent’s daily life activities. As a result, the avoidance of participating in physical activity leads in low levels of fitness and also in secondary social and emotional problems. Fitness levels in children and adolescents with DCD have been recognized as an important factor which influences their performance in daily activities and has a positive impact on their health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Surveys showed that every domain in HRQOL (motor, cognitive, emotional, social) is significantly lower in children with DCD compared to their peers. These data showed that intervention is very important for improving motor skill performance and HRQOL, too, in children and adolescents with DCD. The present study aimed to systematically review the literature published in peer reviewed journals and to summarize information about possible relationships between intervention approaches focused on physical fitness and exercise, participation in physical activity and HRQOL, in children and adolescents with DCD. Studies which examined the effect of fitness and exercise intervention programs on motor competence and HRQOL in children and adolescents with DCD were also, included. The review of the literature has shown that several intervention programs developed for DCD population, focusing to improve motor ability, derived from occupational therapy, physiotherapy, medicine, dietetics and education scientific areas. Generally, the present review focused on two basic approaches in clinical practice regarding intervention programs for DCD individuals: task-oriented and process-oriented approach. The task-oriented approach aims to improve the performance of a specific skill and on the other hand the process-oriented approach aims to identify the underlying processes or dysfunctions which the individual has not developed adequately according to his/her age, although they are considered to be necessary for successful performance and acquisition of motor skills. Children and adolescents with DCD seemed to report poorer ΗRQOL than their typically developing peers. However, HRQOL in children and adolescents with DCD needs further investigation. In addition, there is a need of research in interventions focused on fitness and exercise programs with an ultimate goal to improve motor ability and HRQOL too; through participation in such interventions children and adolescents with DCD, may be possible to break the negative cycle of physical activity avoidance, reversing it to a positive one. It is concluded that, there are possible positive relationships between fitness and exercise intervention programs, motor competence and HRQOL in children and adolescents with DCD. Future research should focus on examining whether and how such interventions may eliminate functional constraints leading to an engagement in the positive cycle of physical activity, with a further improvement in HRQOL in DCD population.  Article visualizations

Development of a motivation-based taxonomy of adult sport participants using a self-determination theory perspective.

Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991; Ryan & Deci, 2000) has been prominent in investigations of the motivational dynamics of sport participation. SDT posits that motivation for participation in an activity may be either intrinsic, extrinsic, or amotivated. When individuals engage in a behaviour to obtain rewards, pay, or as a result of coercive pressures, the behaviour is said to be extrinsically motivated. In contrast, when the motive for a behaviour is the enjoyment derived from the process of participation, the behaviour is said to be intrinsically motivated. Amotivation is evident when there is a lack of intention to participate in an activity. According to Deci and Ryan (1985) extrinsic motivation can be differentiated into four sub-types, referred to as 'external regulation', 'introjected regulation', 'identified regulation' and 'integrated regulation'. For definitions of these types of extrinsic motivation see Deci and Ryan (1985). In addition, Deci (1975) and Vallerand and associates (Vallerand et al., 1992, 1993) suggested that intrinsic motivation can be differentiated into 'intrinsic motivation to know', 'intrinsic motivation to accomplish' and 'intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation'. These types of motivation (from amotivation to intrinsic motivation) are proposed to lie on a continuum ranging from lower to higher degrees of self-determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Research in a variety of life domains has shown that higher self-determination is associated with positive consequences whereas lower self-determination is associated with negative consequences. Vallerand (1997) has suggested that pitting intrinsic against extrinsic motivation is not the most informative way to study human motivation. This is because various types of motives coexist within individuals in different degrees and they interact to influence behaviour. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to examine the configurations of motives for sport participation that characterise the motivation profiles of adult sport participants and to identify the configurations that correspond with the most and least positive consequences

Latent variable modelling of the relationship between flow and exercise-induced feelings: an intuitive appraisal perspective

[Abstract]: The present study examined the relationship between self-reported levels of Flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975) and the post-exercise feelings of Positive Engagement, Revitalisation, Tranquillity, and Physical Exhaustion (Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993) using responses from 1, 231 aerobic dance exercise participants. Vallerand’s (1987) intuitive-reflective appraisal model of self-related affects and Csikszentmihalyi’s (1975) conceptual framework for optimal experience served as the guiding theoretical frameworks. It was hypothesised that self-reported flow would be positively associated with revitalisation, tranquillity and positive engagement while statistical independence was expected for physical exhaustion. First, participants completed the Flow State Scale (Jackson & Marsh, 1996) and second, the Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory (Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993) immediately after an aerobic dance exercise class. Latent variable analyses showed that the higher-order Flow factor was positively associated with post-exercise Positive Engagement, Revitalisation, and Tranquillity, but not with Physical Exhaustion. Flow state explained 35% of the variance in Positive Engagement, 31% of the variance in Revitalisation, and 22% of the variance in Tranquillity. It is concluded that self-reported flow in aerobic dance exercise is moderately associated with the experience of positive post-exercise feelings. Physical educators may wish to employ interventions to facilitate the flow experience during lessons that involve structured exercise

Predicting students' intention to smoke by theory of planned behaviour variables and parental influences across school grade levels

Differences were examined in Theory of Planned Behaviour determinants of students' intention to smoke including parents' attitudes towards smoking and parents' current cigarette use among Greek students of different school grade levels. Students (N = 763) aged 10-18 years reported their attitudes towards smoking, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, self-identity and intention to smoke while their parents (N = 525) reported their attitudes towards smoking and their current cigarette use. All the TPB variables increased from lower to higher school grade level. Multi-sample path analyses showed that parent's attitudes towards smoking positively predicted students' intention to smoke only for elementary school children. Parents' current cigarette use did not contribute significantly. Students' attitudes, perceived behavioural control and self-identity predicted systematically intention to smoke in contrast to the subjective norm that did not contribute at all. Perceived behavioural control contributed to a higher degree in intention to smoke for senior high school students compared to the junior high school and elementary students. Self-identity contributed to a higher degree in intention to smoke for elementary compared to the junior high school students. The results of this study suggests that the determinants of smoking vary between early and late adolescence

The Mediating Role of Passion in the Relationship of Exercise Motivational Regulations with Exercise Dependence Symptoms

The present study examined the mediating role of obsessive passion in the relationship of introjected regulation to exercise with exercise dependence symptoms. A cross-sectional design was used. Questionnaires were administered in the context of private fitness centers and were completed before initiation of that day's exercise activities. Using non-probability sampling, 549 regular Greek exercise participants, men and women (approximately 70 % response rate), aged 18 to 61 years, completed the questionnaires. The Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (Symons-Downs et al. 2004) was used to measure exercise dependence symptoms; the Passion Scale (Vallerand et al. 2003) was used to measure harmonious and obsessive passion for exercise; and the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (Markland and Tobin 2004) was used to measure types of behavioral regulations in exercise. Obsessive passion mediated the relationship between introjected regulation and exercise dependence symptoms (CFI = 0.91-0.95, RMSEA = 0.05-06). The present findings provided cross-sectional support to the mediating role of obsessive passion in the relationship of introjected regulation to exercise with exercise dependence symptoms