Cardiovascular fitness moderates the relations between estimates of obesity and physical self-perceptions in rural elementary school students.

BACKGROUND: Levels of physical activity decline throughout childhood. Children's physical self-perceptions have been found to relate to their physical activity. Understanding the relationships among physical self-perceptions, obesity, and physical activity could have important implications for interventions in children. METHODS: The current study investigated the moderating effect of cardiovascular fitness (CVF, heart rate recovery from a 3-minute step test) on the relationship between obesity (BMI, waist circumference) and physical self-perceptions (athletic competence, physical appearance) in 104 fourth- and fifth-grade children from a small rural community. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that CVF moderated the relations between BMI and waist circumference on athletic competence. For children with lower fitness, higher waist circumference was associated with lower athletic competence, while for children with higher fitness levels, higher BMI was associated with higher athletic competence. Results also indicated that both BMI and waist circumference were negatively related to physical appearance. CVF moderated these relations such that only children with lower fitness, greater BMI and waist circumference was associated with poorer physical appearance scores. CONCLUSIONS: Implications include the need for support of fitness programs to promote psychological well-being and to investigate the relationship between obesity and physical self-perceptions within the context of fitness.

Effects of a 12-week resistance exercise program on physical self-perceptions in college students.

There is an increase in literature suggesting exercise can promote positive changes in physical self-perceptions that can manifest as an increase in global self-esteem. In the present study, we assessed self-esteem using the hierarchical framework of the Exercise and Self-Esteem Model (EXSEM) along with cognitive facets at the subdomain level (e.g., competence, certainty, importance, and ideal self-discrepancy). This allowed for an analysis of cognitive facets as possible contributors to changes in physical self-perceptions. We addressed these aims with a sample of 120 college-age adults who completed a 12-week resistance exercise program. Results indicated significant improvements in self-perception constructs at all levels of the EXSEM. The hierarchical structure of the EXSEM was partially supported, as we observed successively smaller improvements at each level of the model (e.g., self-esteem showed lesser improvements than physical self-worth). In addition, a path model developed to explain the impact of strength changes on self-esteem proved a good fit for the data. Results are discussed in terms of contemporary models of self-perception, potential mediators of exercise on self-esteem, and the need to consider cognitive facets of self-perception.

Effects of acute resistance training of different intensities and rest periods on anxiety and affect.

The affective benefits associated with aerobic exercise are well documented. However, literature concerning resistance exercise has suggested a more variable response (i.e., a short duration increase in state anxiety, which eventually is reduced below baseline) and thus may play an important role in the adoption and maintenance of a resistance training program. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of different intensities and rest period during resistance exercise on anxiety, positive affect, and negative affect while holding volume constant and controlling for self-efficacy. Using an experimental design, individuals enrolled in a weight training class (n = 104) were randomly assigned 1 of 5 exercise conditions (control, low-long, low-short, high-long, and high-short), varying intensities, and rest time. Anxiety and positive and negative affect measurements were collected immediately following the exercise workouts. Data from separate analyses of covariance revealed a significant main effect for condition on positive affect (p = 0.026), in which the low-long group reported significantly higher positive affect than the control group, at 5-minute postexercise. Similar analysis indicated a significant main effect for time on anxiety (p = 0.003), with the highest anxiety detected at 5-minute postexercise, and significant reductions in anxiety at both 20-minute and 40-minute postexercise. In conclusion, these results suggest that the variation of intensity and rest time had a modest short-term effect on psychological states, following an acute bout of resistance exercise. Personal trainers and health professionals may want to emphasize light-intensity resistance programs for novice clients to maximize psychological benefits, which in turn, may positively affect compliance and adherence.

The physical self-attribute questionnaire: development and initial validation.

The Physical Self-attribute Questionnaire was developed for use in conjunction with the Physical Self-perception Profile to model cognitive facets of perceived competence, certainty, importance, and discrepancy from ideal to each of the physical subdomains measured by the latter (Strength, Attractive Body, Condition, and Sport). To this end, two studies were conducted. Study 1 examined the factor structure, test-retest reliability, and validity of the questionnaire in a sample of 154 (28 men, 126 women) undergraduate health students. Reliability and validity were acceptable, and confirmatory factor analysis indicated good fit for a four-factor solution. In Study 2, the reliability, validity, and factor structure was again confirmed in a sample of 120 (83 men, 37 women) undergraduate students recruited from exercise classes. Results of these two studies suggest that the Physical Self-attribute Questionnaire is a viable tool to measure the underlying cognitive facets of subdomain-specific physical self-esteem.