Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Biddle.
Psychology's impact as an ergogenic aid across sports and competitive levels has been well documented. In addition, exercise can play a major role in disease prevention and health enhancement while also enhancing psychological well-being. In addition to its preventive value, exercise is being recognized as a valuable therapeutic tool. Like most therapeutic modalities, however, exercise also has some potentially negative qualities.
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A brief review of the literature on the effectiveness of health-related fitness (HRF) tests in the promotion of exercise is presented. The paper then describes one particular community project which used HRF tests as part of exercise promotion. The purpose of such a project was to give people some indication of their present cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility with a view to highlighting the components of HRF and areas of concern for future action. Other measures, such as self-reported activity patterns, smoking, alcohol, and diet were also taken. During the six months of the Festival in 1986, over 250,000 people visited the Health Fair (HF), and 15,000 volunteered to take the fitness tests; 13,373 were actually completed. As part of the evaluation of the HRF tests at the HF, a sample of 3,000 (500 per month) was used. A follow-up survey on 350 was mailed 12 months after the end of the Festival and 173 people replied. The follow-up survey showed that just under 50 per cent of males followed their 8-week exercise programme (given to them after their HRF tests) for the recommended time period. However, this figure dropped to 21.4 per cent for females. Of those who started exercise after their HRF tests, 12.5 per cent (females) and 18.4 per cent (males) gave up within two months, otherwise most were still involved (87.5 per cent females, 71.4 per cent males) after 12 months.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
PURPOSE: To test the ability of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in predicting the stage of change for physical activity promotion by mental health professionals. DESIGN: Six-month prospective questionnaire study. SETTING: One mental health trust in the East Midlands, United Kingdom. SUBJECTS: Three hundred ninety-four mental health professionals (men, n = 131; women, n = 263) of an initial sample of 477 participated in the study (83% response rate). MEASURES: Attitudes, subjective norms, intentions, perceived behavioral control, and stage of change were measured at the first wave of data collection. Stage of change was also assessed 6 months later. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Intention and stage of change were successfully predicted from TPB variables. Overall, 27% of the variance in self-reported stage of promoting physical activity was explained by the model. Sixty-one percent of the variance in intention to promote physical activity was explained. When included, past behavior was the strongest predictor of both intention and stage of change and attenuated all other path coefficients. Past behavior improved the predicted variance in intention by 11% and stage by 6%. CONCLUSIONS: The TPB variables of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention predict stage of change of physical activity promotion in a health care setting. However, promoting physical activity in the past had a sizable effect on predicting subsequent promotion. Due to unequal distribution across stages, the stage model's application to understanding the behavior of health professionals may be limited.