Applied Research Automatic Self-Talk Questionnaire for Sports (ASTQS): Development and Preliminary Validation of a Measure Identifying the Structure of Athletes’ Self-Talk

The aim of the present investigation was to develop an instrument assessing the con­tent and the structure of athletes’ self-talk. The study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, a large pool of items was generated and content analysis was used to organize the items into categories. Furthermore, item-content relevance analysis was conducted to help identifying the most appropriate items. In Stage 2, the factor struc­ture of the instrument was examined by a series of exploratory factor analyses (Sample A: N = 507), whereas in Stage 3 the results of the exploratory factor analysis were retested through confirmatory factor analyses (Sample B: N = 766) and at the same time concurrent validity were assessed. The analyses revealed eight factors, four pos­itive (psych up, confidence, anxiety control and instruction), three negative (worry, disengagement and somatic fatigue) and one neutral (irrelevant thoughts). The find­ings of the study provide evidence regarding the multidimensionality of self-talk, suggesting that ASTQS seems a psychometrically sound instrument that could help us developing cognitive-behavioral theories and interventions to examine and modify athletes’ self-talk

Smoking Attitudes Among Adolescents: Effect of Messages Varying on Argument Quality and Source’s Expertise

The present study examined the effectiveness of an anti-smoking message on processing and persuasion in young adolescents. Data were collected from 112 Greek adolescents 13 to 16 years of age, who were randomly assigned into a control and four experimental groups. All participants in experimental groups read a written anti-smoking message varying on the source’s expertise (expert or non expert) and on the quality of the arguments (12 weak/12 strong arguments). Before and after the experimental manipulation, participants completed questionnaires assessing attitudes towards smoking, intention to smoke, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, knowledge, and smoking behavior. Repeated measures analyses showed no significant differences between experimental groups (p \u3e .05). All groups perceived they were more informed about smoking after the experimental manipulation. Results are discussed according to planned behavior theory and elaboration likelihood model, for effective anti-smoking messages addressed to adolescents

Preliminary Exploration of Bystander Intention to Stand Up for a Female-Peer Targeted in Sexual Harassment in Greek Academia

University students’ intentions to stand up for a female-peer victimized in a sexual harassment incident by peer and/or professor as perpetrator were explored using the planned behavior theory. The participants were 296 Greek male and female undergraduate students. Using a standard planned behavior theory questionnaire, hypothetical scenarios of sexual harassment conveyed through (a) unwanted verbal comments of sexual content, (b) unwanted physical contact, and (c) gender based taunting, were presented to participants. In all scenarios, bystander intention to stand up was predicted. Specifically, we found that it is more likely for a student-bystander to intervene when perceiving a strong social pressure as significant others would also stand up for a victim; his/her self-control beliefs are strong over the behavior to stand up; and when his/her attitude is negative and unfavorable toward the witnessed conduct. In both peer- and professors-as-perpetrator scenarios, female students, more than males, held significantly more negative attitudes towards sexual harassment and stronger intentions to intervene. Considering female students’ well-being, findings are related to the characteristics of the Greek society and the lack of protective laws and policies against sexual harassment in Greek academia

The effect of exercise on improving quality of life and self-esteem of inmates in Greek prisons

The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of an exercise program on the quality of life and self-esteem of inmates in Greek prisons. Sixty male inmates randomly assigned in two groups (control and experiment). The duration of the training program for the exercise group was 12 weeks. Control group individuals did not participate in the exercise program. SF-12 quality of life questionnaire and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale were administered to both groups prior and after exercise intervention. The findings of this study support the beneficial effect of exercise on quality of life and self-esteem of inmates in Greek prison settings.The research for this paper was financially supported by a PhD Research Fellowship from the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI)

Enhanced erythrocyte antioxidant status following an 8-week aerobic exercise training program in heavy drinkers

Alcohol-induced oxidative stress is involved in the development and progression of various pathological conditions and diseases whereas exercise training has been shown to improve redox status, thus attenuating oxidative stress-associated disease processes. PURPOSE: to evaluate the effect of an exercise training program on blood redox status in heavy drinkers. METHODS: Eleven sedentary, heavy drinking men participated in an intervention where they completed an 8-week supervised aerobic training program of moderate intensity. Blood samples were collected before, during (week 4) and after intervention and analyzed for total antioxidant capacity (TAC), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyls (PC), uric acid (UA), bilirubin, reduced glutathione (GSH) and catalase activity. RESULTS: Catalase activity increased (p<0.05) after 8 weeks (340.7+13.3 U mg/Hb) of intervention compared to week 4 (299.5+18.7 U mg/Hb). GSH increased (p<0.05) after 8 weeks of intervention (1.22+0.16 μmol/g Hb) compared to the control condition (1.11 + 0.17 μmol/g Hb) and to week 4 (1.11 + 0.15 μmol/g Hb ). TAC, UA, bilirubin, TBARS and PC did not significantly change at any time point. CONCLUSION: An 8-week aerobic training program enhanced erythrocyte antioxidant status in heavy drinkers, indicating that aerobic training may attenuate pathological processes caused by alcohol-induced oxidative stress.Published versio

Effects of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals living in a refugee camp in Greece: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND The metabolic syndrome epidemic, including in forcibly displaced individuals, requires cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Yet, the health needs of forcibly displaced individuals often remain underserved. Our study evaluated the effect of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals in a refugee camp in Greece and examined the indirect effect through cardiorespiratory fitness on metabolic syndrome components. METHODS We conducted a randomized controlled trial involving an intervention and a wait-list control group with n = 142 (52.8 % women) forcibly displaced Southwest Asians and Sub-Saharan Africans. The intervention group participated for 10 weeks in exercise and sport activities. Outcomes were cardiorespiratory fitness and single metabolic syndrome components. Effects were analyzed with structural equation modeling. RESULTS In total, 62.7 % of participants presented with low cardiorespiratory fitness levels (<40th percentile), and 24.6 % met the criteria for metabolic syndrome. In the intervention group, 73.5 % attended the exercise and sport sessions at least once a week. There was evidence for a direct intervention effect on cardiorespiratory fitness, ßdirect = 0.12, p = 0.022, but not for any of the metabolic syndrome components (p ≥ 0.192). Cardiorespiratory fitness significantly facilitated the intervention's indirect effect on abdominal obesity, ßindirect = -0.03, p = 0.012, high diastolic blood pressure, ßindirect = -0.04, p = 0.011, and elevated triglycerides, ßindirect = -0.03, p = 0.025. CONCLUSION Implementing exercise and sport activities in a refugee camp in Greece effectively reaches a wider target population and improves cardiorespiratory fitness among forcibly displaced individuals. The intervention contributes to a decrease in abdominal obesity, high diastolic blood pressure and elevated triglycerides indirectly via improved cardiorespiratory fitness

Associations between grip strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiovascular risk and mental health in forcibly displaced people from a Greek refugee camp.

Muscular strength represents a specific component of health-related fitness. Hand grip strength is used as a simple and dynamic marker of maximum voluntary force of the hand and to estimate overall strength. Today, little is known about the relationship between grip strength and health in forcibly displaced populations. In the present study, we examined whether grip strength is associated with various health outcomes in a sample of forcibly displaced people living in a Greek refugee camp. The present analyses are part of a larger pragmatic randomized controlled trial. In this paper, cross-sectional baseline data of 143 participants (71 men, 72 women) will be presented. In addition to grip strength, the following physical and mental health outcomes were assessed: body weight and body composition, blood pressure, total cholesterol, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, blood glucose levels (HbA1c), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depressive and anxiety symptoms, pain, and quality of life. Linear regression analyses were carried out to examine how grip strength is associated with the health outcomes, separately for absolute and normalized grip strength scores. Grip strength was positively and strongly associated with percentage muscle mass (normalized grip strength: Stand. B = 0.58, p < .001), whereas a negative association existed for percentage body fat (normalized grip strength: Stand. B = - 0.58, p < .001). No statistically significant associations occurred between grip strength and the other cardiovascular risk markers. In contrast, we found that participants with higher normalized grip strength reported higher levels of PTSD (normalized grip strength: Stand. B = 0.36, p < .05) and depressive symptoms (normalized grip strength: Stand. B = 0.29, p < .05). No significant association occurred between grip strength, anxiety, pain and quality of life. Measuring grip strength in forcibly displaced people can be a useful way to assess their overall muscle strength. Grip strength tests are easy to implement, and results can be used to assess the effects of specific intervention measures. Nevertheless, our results question the usefulness of grip strength as a marker of cardiovascular health and mental wellbeing in a refugee camp setting

Exercise training reduces alcohol consumption but does not affect HPA-axis activity in heavy drinkers

It has been suggested that physical exercise could have potential beneficial effects in substance abusers, which are based on both physiological and psychological theories. Although a few studies have examined the effect of exercise on alcohol intake and fitness in individuals with alcohol use disorders (AUDs), there is a gap in the literature concerning the physiological and biochemical mechanisms that could be affected by physical exercise in this population

Interlaced linear-nonlinear optical waveguide arrays

The system of coupled discrete equations describing a two-component superlattice with interlaced linear and nonlinear constituents is revisited as a basis for investigating binary waveguide arrays, such as ribbed AlGaAs structures, among others. Compared to the single nonlinear lattice, the interlaced system exhibits an extra band-gap controlled by the, suitably chosen by design, relative detuning. In more general physics settings, this system represents a discretization scheme for the single-equation-based continuous models in media with transversely modulated linear and nonlinear properties. Continuous wave solutions and the associated modulational instability are fully analytically investigated and numerically tested for focusing and defocusing nonlinearity. The propagation dynamics and the stability of periodic modes are also analytically investigated for the case of zero Bloch momentum. In the band-gaps a variety of stable discrete solitary modes, dipole or otherwise, in-phase or of staggered type are found and discussed