ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo examine the relationships between contexts of physical activity, grit, and GPA in a college population.Participants:875 Undergraduate students from a large, southern university participated between October 2018 and March 2020.Methods:Participants completed an electronic survey evaluating physical activity and grit. The university provided official GPAs. Multiple linear regression models evaluated the correlations between grit, the different physical activity domains, and GPA.Results:Grit was positively associated with domestic physical activity, leisure time physical activity, and GPA. Consistency of interest had no associations with the domains of physical activity or GPA. Perseverance of effort was positively associated with walking, active transport physical activity, domestic physical activity, leisure physical activity, and GPA.Conclusion:Perseverance of effort is related to different domains of physical activity and GPA. Future studies should investigate if increasing leisure time physical activity causes increases in perseverance of effort.
ABSTRACT
OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSThe National Occupational Research Agenda for Musculoskeletal Health in the United States identified that with the changing nature of the traditional office environment, mobile devices are now frequently used for longer durations, warranting research on the impacts of mobile computing on musculoskeletal health. A recent study of office workers showed that those with "smartphone overuse" were six times more likely to report neck pain. Working in pain may also result in withdrawal and less proactive extra-role behaviors at work (such as making recommendations at work and willing to help colleagues). We found that 30-minutes of mobile device use resulted in pain reporting in the neck and upper back when the device was used with neck flexion. This musculoskeletal pain could lead to acute concerns during the workday and long-term problems over time.
TECHNICAL ABSTRACTBackground: People commonly use their phones with a flexed neck. Such use is concerning because epidemiological studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between prolonged neck flexion and neck pain, and mobile device use is associated with neck pain development.Purpose: Determine the repeatability of neck and upper back pain symptom development among young adults (ages 18-29) during 30-minutes of smartphone use with a flexed neck and compare neck flexion range of motion, neck extensor endurance, and posture among participants who develop neck and/or upper back pain during the task compared to those who do not develop pain.Methods: Participants (n = 40) came to the lab on two days separated by one week. They completed a 30-minute smartphone use trial with the device in their lap to elicit neck flexion. Participants were separated into pain groups based on a 10-mm change in their self-reported pain reports on a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS). Pre-post tests and kinematics during the 30-minute trial were compared between individuals who did and did not consistently develop pain.Results: Seventy-five percent of the total study sample were categorized in the same pain category in the two trials using VAS score change. Of those participants, 66% developed neck pain during 30-minutes of smartphone use with sustained neck flexion. The most common symptom description was "aching." Pain developers had a lower cervical extensor test duration after 30-minutes of smartphone use than before smartphone use.Conclusions: Two-thirds of young adults developed consistent neck and/or upper back musculoskeletal pain that they described as aching after 30-minutes of smartphone use with sustained neck flexion. Since the nontraditional work environment may result in the use of these devices, employers will need to be aware of the potential consequences of sustained postures during mobile device use and develop methods to mitigate pain.
