Narratives of athletic identity after acquiring a permanent physical disability.

Individuals with acquired physical disabilities report lower levels of athletic identity. The objective of this study was to further explore why athletic identity may be lost or (re)developed after acquiring a physical disability. Seven women and four men (range = 28-60 years) participated in approximately 1-hour-long semistructured interviews; data were subjected to a narrative analysis.

Testing messages to encourage discussion of clinical trials among cancer survivors and their physicians: examining monitoring style and message detail.

Encouraging cancer survivors to discuss clinical trials with their physicians may increase enrollment in clinical trials. Health messages offer one method for encouraging such discussions. We hypothesized that matching messages to an individual's preference for detailed or non-detailed information (i.

Healthy Eating for Life English as a second language curriculum: primary outcomes from a nutrition education intervention targeting cancer risk reduction.

We conducted a pre-post feasibility trial of Healthy Eating for Life, a theory-based, multimedia English as a second language curriculum that integrates content about healthy nutrition into an English language learning program to decrease cancer health disparities. Teachers in 20 English as a second language classrooms delivered Healthy Eating for Life to 286 adult English as a second language students over one semester. Postintervention data are available for 227 students.

Changes in traditional chronic disease risk factors over time and their relationship with leisure-time physical activity in people living with spinal cord injury.

This study examined whether levels of chronic disease risk factors change over time, and whether leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) can explain any of the variation in those risk factors that change, in a sample of community-dwelling people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) in or near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. LTPA was measured using the Physical Activity Recall Assessment for People with SCI at baseline (n = 76 adults with chronic (≥1 year) paraplegia or tetraplegia), at 6 months (n = 71) and at 18 months (n = 63). Body mass index, waist circumference at the lowest rib (WC(lowest rib)) and iliac crest (WC(iliac crest)), fat mass, blood pressure, and biochemical data were collected at all 3 time points.

Examining the use of message tailoring to promote physical activity among medically underserved adults.

The purpose of this study was to examine if messages tailored to an individual's regulatory focus (i.e. their tendency to focus on prevention or promotion) increased exercise intentions and behavior in a medically underserved sample.

Formative research for a community-based message-framing intervention.

Objective: To inform a community-based message framing intervention encouraging physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption among medically underserved adults.

Method: Key informant interviews, focus groups, and a survey were conducted with limited-literacy Hispanics in the northeastern United States.

Results: Barriers to healthy lifestyle behaviors exist at individual, community, and policy levels.

Reliability and validity tests of the leisure time physical activity questionnaire for people with spinal cord injury.

Objective: To examine the criterion validity and test-retest reliability of the Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire for People with Spinal Cord Injury (LTPAQ-SCI), a brief measure of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) for people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Survey with a 1-week follow-up.

Setting: General community.

Targeted smoking cessation messages for adolescents.

Purpose: To develop and to conduct a preliminary evaluation of smoking cessation messages targeted for adolescents.

Method: We (a) conducted a formative evaluation to identify the optimal content and presentation approach for adolescent-targeted smoking cessation messages, (b) developed two smoking cessation videos catering to adolescent smokers' message preferences, and (c) copy tested the videos to determine the optimal message frame (gain vs. loss) using a quasi-experimental crossover design.

Risky business: risk information and the moderating effect of message frame and past behaviour on women's perceptions of the Human Papillomavirus vaccine.

The effect of response cost information, message framing and past behaviour on women's coping appraisal and motivation to be vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) were investigated using a 2 Frame × 2 Response Cost × 2 Pap Status design. Women (N = 286) read one of four messages about the vaccine. Women who received high-risk information perceived the vaccine as having higher response cost and were less motivated to be vaccinated compared to women who received low-risk information.

An investigation of the theoretical content of physical activity brochures.

New evidence-based physical activity guidelines and recommendations for constructing messages supplementing the guidelines have been put forth. As well, recent reviewshave identified theoretical constructs that hold promise as targets for intervention: self-regulation, outcome expectancies and self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine the integration of messages targeting self-regulation, self-efficacy and outcome expectancies in existing physical activity brochures.

Examining predictors of physical activity among inactive middle-aged women: an application of the health action process approach.

This study tested several relationships predicted by the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) in a sample of 175 generally healthy, inactive, middle-aged women (40-65 yrs old) over a 12 week period. Participants' physical activity, risk perceptions, outcome expectancies, action self-efficacy and intention were measured at baseline. Planning and maintenance self-efficacy were measured 4 weeks later.

Effects of a print-mediated intervention on physical activity during transition to the first year of university.

Transition to the first year of university is linked to steep declines in moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a targeted, theory-driven, print-based intervention on MVPA during transition to university. Volunteer participants from five Canadian universities (n=255) completed measures of MVPA at the start of their first semester at university and were randomly assigned to conditions receiving a first-year-student physical activity and action-planning brochure, Canada's Physical Activity Guide (CPAG), or a no-intervention control group.

Determinants of physical activity among people with spinal cord injury: a test of social cognitive theory.

Background: Little theory-based research has focused on understanding and increasing physical activity among people with physical disabilities. Testing a social cognitive theory-based model of determinants is important for identifying variables to target in physical activity-enhancing interventions.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine Social Cognitive Theory variables as predictors of physical activity among people living with spinal cord injury.

New Canadian physical activity guidelines.

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP), in cooperation with ParticipACTION and other stakeholders, and with support from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), has developed the new Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for Children (aged 5-11 years), Youth (aged 12-17 years), Adults (aged 18-64 years), and Older Adults (aged >=65 years). The new guidelines include a preamble to provide context and specific guidelines for each age group. The entire guideline development process was guided by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument, which is the international standard for clinical practice guideline development.

Exercise as stigma management for individuals with onset-controllable and onset-uncontrollable spinal cord injury.

Unlabelled: Studies have suggested that individuals with physical disabilities are often stigmatized and are perceived to possess less favorable physical and psychological characteristics than individuals without disability.

Purpose: To investigate whether able-bodied adults' perceptions of people with different causes of spinal cord injury (SCI) are influenced by physical activity status information.

Method And Participants: Each participant (N = 198) read all five vignettes describing individuals with SCI who had varying levels of physical activity participation and cause of injury information (e.

Nicotine dependence as a moderator of a quitline-based message framing intervention.

High nicotine dependence is a reliable predictor of difficulty quitting smoking and remaining smoke-free. Evidence also suggests that the effectiveness of various smoking cessation treatments may vary by nicotine dependence level. Nicotine dependence, as assessed by Heaviness of Smoking Index baseline total scores, was evaluated as a potential moderator of a message-framing intervention provided through the New York State Smokers' Quitline (free telephone based service).

A Review of Acculturation Measures and Their Utility in Studies Promoting Latino Health.

The authors reviewed the acculturation literature with the goal of identifying measures used to assess acculturation in Hispanic populations in the context of studies of health knowledge, attitudes, and behavior change. Twenty-six acculturation measures were identified and summarized. As the Hispanic population continues to grow in the United States, there is a need to develop rigorous acculturation measures that include health indicators.

Nicotine dependence as a moderator of message framing effects on smoking cessation outcomes.

Background: The persuasiveness of gain-framed and loss-framed messages for smoking cessation may vary by smokers' characteristics. Preliminary research in non-treatment-seeking smokers has shown that level of nicotine dependence moderates the effects of framed smoking messages on quit intentions and smoking cessation attitudes. Nicotine dependence as a potential moderator of message framing effects on actual smoking outcomes among treatment-seeking smokers remains to be determined.

A systematic review of three approaches for constructing physical activity messages: What messages work and what improvements are needed?

Background: To motivate individuals to adhere to a regular physical activity regime, guidelines must be supplemented with persuasive messages that are disseminated widely. While substantial research has examined effective strategies for disseminating physical activity messages, there has been no systematic effort to examine optimal message content. This paper reviews studies that evaluate the effectiveness of three approaches for constructing physical activity messages including tailoring messages to suit individual characteristics of message recipients (message tailoring), framing messages in terms of gains versus losses (message framing), and targeting messages to affect change in self-efficacy (i.

Leisure time physical activity in a population-based sample of people with spinal cord injury part II: activity types, intensities, and durations.

Objective: To describe the types, intensities, and average duration of leisure time physical activities (LTPAs) performed by people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Cross-sectional telephone survey.

Setting: General community.

Leisure time physical activity in a population-based sample of people with spinal cord injury part I: demographic and injury-related correlates.

Objectives: To estimate the number of minutes a day of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) performed by people with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) and to identify the demographic and injury-related characteristics associated with LTPA in a population-based sample of people with chronic SCI.

Design: Cross-sectional telephone survey.

Setting: General community.

Tailoring messages to individual differences in monitoring-blunting styles to increase fruit and vegetable intake.

Objective: To examine whether messages matched to individuals' monitoring-blunting coping styles (MBCS) are more effective in increasing fruit and vegetable intake than mismatched messages. MBCS refers to the tendency to either attend to and amplify, or distract oneself from and minimize threatening information.

Design/setting: Randomly assigned messages were tailored to resonate with either monitors or blunters and delivered at baseline, 1 week, 2 months, and 3 months later.

Increased participation in activities of daily living is associated with lower cholesterol levels in people with spinal cord injury.

Unlabelled: Hetz SP, Latimer AE, Martin Ginis KA, Buchholz AC, and the SHAPE-SCI Research Group. Increased participation in activities of daily living is associated with lower cholesterol levels in people with spinal cord injury.

Objective: To evaluate the relationships between activities of daily living (ADLs) participation and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors in people with spinal cord injury.

Greater daily leisure time physical activity is associated with lower chronic disease risk in adults with spinal cord injury.

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and common risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes in community-dwelling adults with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). LTPA was measured using the Physical Activity Recall Assessment for People with SCI in 76 men and women with chronic (> or =1 year) paraplegia or tetraplegia, living in or near Hamilton, Ontario. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, body composition (fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM)), blood pressure, and biochemical data were collected.

The identification of framed messages in the New York State Smokers' Quitline materials.

Research suggests that smoking cessation messages are most persuasive when framed in terms of the benefits achieved from quitting (i.e. gain-framed) than when framed in terms of the costs of not quitting (i.