Kinesiology Commons^™

Student Lifestyle Choices And Perceptions Of Stress Based On Majors, Nathan Robinson, Seth Andrews, Benjamin E. Yoder

Exercise Science Senior Research Projects

College students are often experience many stressors. This study was designed to look at perceived-stress and health habits with relation to academic department of undergraduate students at Cedarville University. The results of this study have implications for the Physical Activity and the Christian Life (PACL) class, offered on the Cedarville campus, in assessing its current curriculum and making potential future adjustments to the course. The objective of this study was to answer the question: “Do perceived stress levels within different academic departments affect health habits in Cedarville University undergraduate students?”

The study was conducted with a campus-wide, 27 question survey …

Hashtagging Your Health: Using Psychosocial Variables And Social Media Use To Understand Impression Management And Exercise Behaviors In Women, Caitlyn Hauff

Theses and Dissertations

Our society has become heavily reliant on social media, especially in the health and exercise domain. Social and environmental factors impact females’ body image perceptions and create body image disturbances, yet little research is dedicated to the exploration of how social media, and social comparisons through social media exposure, impact exercise behaviors and body image perceptions in females. Considering Perloff's (2014) theoretical model, the current study explored how the interaction between individual psychosocial variables and social media use predict exercise behaviors and engagement in impression management in women. Using a mixed methodological approach, the specific aims of this study were …

Barriers, Motivations, And Preferences For Physical Activity Among Female African American Older Adults, Neha P. Gothe, Bradley J. Kendall

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 11% of adults more than the age of 65 meet the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Among minority populations, only 5% of non-Hispanic Black older adults met the guidelines. Given our limited understanding of psychosocial and environmental factors that affect physical activity participation in these groups, the purpose of our focus groups was to investigate barriers, motivators, and preferences of physical activity for community-dwelling African American older adults. Three focus groups were conducted with female African American older adults (N = 20). Questions posed to each focus group …

Understanding Motivational Climate And Team Cohesion In Youth Sport, Annika M. Ewaldz

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of both peer-created and coach-created motivational climate on team cohesion was studied in a sample of 136 youth athletes. Task-involving aspects of both peer-and coach-created motivational climates were found to be positively related to team cohesion. Coach-created ego-involving climate was negatively related to team cohesion, most significantly attraction to group-task (ATG-T) cohesion. Peer-created ego-involving motivational climate was significantly, negatively related to group integration-task (GI-T) cohesion. Peer-created motivational climate accounted for variance above and beyond the influence of coach-created motivational climate on team cohesion. The results of this study suggest that a peer-created motivational climate influences team cohesion above …

A Pilot Study Of Comparison Gesture Analysis In Motion Driven Video Games, Fabrizio Valerio Covone, Brian Vaughan, Charlie Cullen

Conference Papers

This study investigates whether there are significant differences in the gestures made by gamers and non-gamers whilst playing commercial games that employ gesture inputs. Specifically, the study focuses on testing a prototype of multimodal capture tool that we used to obtain real-time audio, video and skeletal gesture data. Additionally, we developed an experimental design framework for the acquisition of spatio-temporal gesture data and analysed the vector magnitude of a gesture to compare the relative displacement of each participant whilst playing a game.

Differences In Depression, Anxiety, And Life Satisfaction Between Intercollegiate Athletes, Intramural Participants, And Non-Athletes, Megan Wilson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is widely supported that participation in athletics is positively correlated with increased overall health. However, some research indicates that participation in increased levels of competition is positively correlated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. This means, that if compared, athletes competing nationally or internationally would report higher levels of both depression and anxiety than athletes competing at the intercollegiate level. Research indicates that this could be caused by increased amounts of pressure, personal cost, and expectation.

This study examines potential differences between intercollegiate, intramural, and non-athletes in these areas on a college campus. The first hypothesis is that …

The Relationship Between Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction, Behavioral Regulation, And Participation In Crossfit, Melissa J. Davies, Lyndsie Coleman, Megan Babkes Stellino

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

CrossFit can be described as a relatively new fitness training method that is based on a variety of high-intensity weight training, body weight movements, and cardiovascular exercise. Given the recent rise in CrossFit establishments, the purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between basic need satisfaction (autonomy, relatedness, competence), behavioral regulation toward CrossFit, and actual participation behaviors within the framework of Self-Determination Theory. CrossFit participants (N = 206; Mage = 37.6 years), majority Caucasian (76%), females (58%), who reported attending three (n = 91; 44.2%) and five (n = 78; 37.9%) CrossFit sessions per week completed online surveys …

The Influence Of Strength-Training Exercises On The Functional Fitness In Older Adults, Susie Engle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of strength-training exercises on the functional fitness in older adults. The original convenience sample consisted of 658 participants who attended group strength-training classes offered through the Cooperative Extension Service. The Senior Fitness Test was used to assess baseline fitness levels at the beginning and end of the 12-week strength-training program. Data was collected from 2008 to 2015. Of the 658 participants, 110 were aged 60 to 94 and presented posttest scores occurring approximately 12 weeks after pretest dates. Of the 110 subjects, 99 were female and 11 were male. The …

Comparison Of Two Body Weight Screenings Of Self-Conscious Emotions And Coping, Rachel N. Nanez Ms.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Novel technologies are currently being utilized in fitness and clinical settings. However, there is not much research to examine the emotional responses to such screenings.

PURPOSE: To examine the group differences between the FIT3D and DXA protocol on emotional responses and the differences between weight classifications.

METHODS: The Body and Appearance-related Self-conscious Emotions Scale and WEIGHTCOPE were used to assess self-conscious emotions and intention to utilize 10 different weight-related coping strategies following the scans. Motivation was measured by a 10-point Likert scale measuring motivation pre and post scans.

RESULTS: There were no differences in motivation, affective response, or intention to …

The Effects Of Whole Body High-Intensity Interval Training On Collegiate Female Soccer Players 2016, Whitney Frary

Master's Theses

Soccer is considered a high intensity sport that requires a high level of both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. A whole body high-intensity interval training adaptation has been shown to benefit both of these systems over a short period of time. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a five week whole-body high intensity interval training program on female collegiate soccer players performance in speed, acceleration, agility, vertical jump, aerobic capacity, physical self perception, and physical enjoyment. Participants were from the SUNY Cortland women’s soccer team who participated in a five- week training protocol three days a …

Power Output And Loads On The Lumbar Vertebrae During A Power Clean 2016, Joseph Keleher

Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was to compare the peak resultant torque, shear, and compressive forces acting at the L3/L4 junction of the lumbar vertebrae and the peak power output during 40% one repetition maximum (1RM) and 80% 1RM attempts of the power clean. It was hypothesized that performance of a power clean at 80% 1RM will result in greater peak resultant compressive force, torque and shear force at the L3/L4 junction of the lumbar spine than that of a 40% 1RM attempt. Power cleans at 80% 1RM will also result in higher maximum instantaneous power outputs than that …

Determining The Optimal Combination Of Lifting Method And Intensity For Power Production During The Hang Clean 2016, Thomas P. Murray

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal combination of lifting method and load intensity for power production during the hang clean. Twenty college students (18 male, 2 female) performed one set of three repetitions of the hang clean at four different intensities for each method while standing on a force platform embedded in the floor. Intensities were set at 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80% 1RM and the methods tested were Contact, where the participant maintained contact with the force platform throughout the lift, and Jump, where the participant jumped through the pull phase of the lift and …

The Effect Of Descriptive Norms On Resistance Exercise Self-Efficacy In College-Aged Females 2016, Justin Kompf

Master's Theses

Resistance training is a form of physical activity that provides substantial health benefits. Despite these widespread benefits, participation in resistance training is considerably low, particularly among females. To engage in a skill-related activity such as resistance training, individuals need to have confidence in their abilities. Self-efficacy is a cognitive construct that is used to describe situation-specific self-confidence. Descriptive norms are a type of social norm that describes the behavior of others. Descriptive norms have been useful in positively changing health related behaviors. The exact mechanism of how descriptive norms alter behavior is unknown. However, it has been show in research …

The Effect Of Weighted Body Armor On Close Combat Reaction Time And Core Muscle Activation 2016, Christopher Banta

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure the choice reaction time and myoelectric activity of the right and left rectus abdominus, and right and left external obliques required to initiate movement in response to a visual stimulus that signaled performance of four different closecombat movements (left or right cross and left or right dodge). Reaction time and myoelectric activity were then compared with performing the movements in response to the visual stimulus while wearing a weighted vest that simulated wearing tactical body armor. Myoelectric activity was measured as the average root mean square (RMS) of the surface electromyography (sEMG) …

Do Running Kinematics Change On The Alter-G Treadmill? [2016], Brittany Lavaute

Master's Theses

The Alter-G lower body positive pressure treadmill, also known as the antigravity treadmill, provides a unique means of exercising for rehabilitation patients and low-impact training in athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction effect of four different treadmill weighted conditions and three different running velocities (2.68 m.s-1, 3.13 m.s-1, and 3.58 m.s-1) on the kinematic variables of step length, step rate, contact time, and flight time on the Alter-G treadmill (AG) and on the regular treadmill (TM). Fifteen participants completed two separate days of testing. All individuals ran at four different conditions (100%, 80%, 60%, and …

Effects Of A Virtual Training Partner On Cycling Time Trial Performance In Recreationally Active Females, Janae L. Myers

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Introduction. Fatigue is a result of physiological and psychological limits. Associative thoughts (thoughts of physical sensations) and dissociative thoughts (thoughts not regarding physical sensations) compete for attentional focus during exercise and can influence exercise performance and fatigue. Distractions during exercise, such as watching TV or interactive exercise, increase dissociative thoughts and reduce rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Limited research exists regarding the effects of a virtual training partner on exercise performance and fatigue.

Purpose. To examine whether the use of a virtual training partner (ghost) will improve performance by increasing dissociative thoughts. We hypothesized that the use of a ghost …

Anti-Fat Attitudes And Weight Bias Internalization: An Investigation Of How Bmi Impacts Perceptions, Opinions And Attitudes, Laurie Schrider

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Americans hold negative and judgmental attitudes towards obese and overweight individuals and these anti-fat attitudes and weight stigma have become a damaging form of discrimination. The internalization of weight bias and anti-fat attitudes contributes to negative health outcomes including: feelings of devalue, self-hate, anxiety, depression, body dissatisfaction and eating disturbances. The purpose of this study was to investigate weight bias internalization in individuals who perceive themselves as overweight as well as to examine differences in anti-fat attitudes among normal and overweight individuals. A sample of 202 male and females completed an online survey that assessed anti-fat attitudes via the Anti-Fat …

Using Mixed Methods To Measure The Perception Of Community Capacity In An Academic–Community Partnership For A Walking Intervention, Charkarra Anderson-Lewis, Diana Castellanos, Arnecca Byrd, Karen Zynda, Alicia Sample, Vickie Reed, Mary Beard, Latessa Minor, Kathleen Yadrick

Diana Cuy Castellanos

H.U.B. City Steps is a 5-year community-based participatory research walking intervention designed to help lower blood pressure in a majority African American population in southern Mississippi via community collaboration and capacity building, increased walking, culturally tailored health education sessions, and motivational interviewing. Building community capacity for physical activity is a key component of this intervention. Qualitative and quantitative methods have been used to assess how project stakeholders perceive the community capacity-building efforts of the project. This article illustrates the baseline results of this mixed methods approach from the perspective of three groups of stakeholders: project researchers and staff, community advisory …

Understanding Flow Occurrence: Contributions From The 2x2 Achievement Goal Framework, Devan Antczak

Theses and Dissertations

Flow is often described as an optimal state, a rewarding experience, and highly motivating. Yet, much of how flow occurs is not understood. Multiple factors have been found to be antecedents of flow, one of which is motivation. The purpose of this study was to determine if variations in motivation according to the 2x2 achievement goal theory resulted in differences in occurrence of flow. An experimental design was utilized. Currently training male and female runners (N=60, ages 18-44 years), were randomly assigned to one of the four different achievement goal groups and reported on the level of flow experienced during …

A True Hall Of Famer: Her "Kids" Call Her Coach, Mark Womack, Dee Morris

Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Hpcnmf: A High-Performance Toolbox For Non-Negative Matrix Factorization, Karthik Devarajan, Guoli Wang

COBRA Preprint Series

Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a widely used machine learning algorithm for dimension reduction of large-scale data. It has found successful applications in a variety of fields such as computational biology, neuroscience, natural language processing, information retrieval, image processing and speech recognition. In bioinformatics, for example, it has been used to extract patterns and profiles from genomic and text-mining data as well as in protein sequence and structure analysis. While the scientific performance of NMF is very promising in dealing with high dimensional data sets and complex data structures, its computational cost is high and sometimes could be critical for …

The Effect Of Arm Position On Lower Extremity Kinematics During A Single Limb Drop Landing: A Preliminary Study, C. Masters, J. Johnstone, Gerwyn Hughes

Kinesiology (Formerly Exercise and Sport Science)

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur most commonly during non-contact situations, such as landing from a jump. Arm position has been shown to affect the loading of the lower extremity and therefore alter the potential injury risk. This study aimed to investigate the effect of arm position on lower extremity kinematics during single limb drop landings. Eight recreational American football players performed single limb drop landings on their preferential limb in four different conditions; (1) control (arms free); (2) arms to landing limb side; (3) arms in front of body; and (4) arms away from landing limb side. Kinematics of …

Exploring The Information Source Preferences Among Canadian Adult Golf League Members, Melissa J. Davies, Dianna Gray

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

With an aging demographic, and the abundance of physical inactivity in Canada, sport professionals need to understand how best to recruit and retain adults in sport and recreational activities, namely, golf leagues. Canadian golf league participants (N = 419; Mage = 62 years old) completed an online survey detailing their propensity to utilize a variety of information sources prior to making the decision to join a golf league. Results from a principal component analysis of a revised Information Sources Inventory, suggested that golfers in this sample were most likely to utilize Personal and Social sources of information associated with their …

Effects Of Foreperiod Regularity And Muscle Size On Fractionated Reaction Time, Ronald Joseph Benedict Ii

Wayne State University Dissertations

Fractionating reaction time (FRT) chronometrically separates central (PMT) from peripheral (MT) processing, allowing for analysis of the variables that may have a timing effect on either. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of foreperiod regularity and muscle size on the components of FRT. Forty-four male (n = 21) and female (n = 23) healthy Wayne State University students responded to a visual stimulus in a simple reaction time task, either by alternating foreperiod by block (Exp1) or by alternating muscle size by block (Exp2). All participants completed six blocks of eight trials using their right-side, with …

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Cause To Treatment, Tavleen Aulakh

Occam's Razor

Imagine two individuals, both suffering from severe liver damage. With excess fat molecules concentrated in the hepatic cells, their livers are inflamed and scarred. These deteriorating livers are also supplementing the development of chronic obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hyperlipidemia. While one of these individuals is a middle-aged male with a long history of alcohol addiction and abuse, the other is only thirteen years old and has never consumed alcohol. This adolescent is suffering from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Occam's Razor Vol. 6 - Full (2016)

Occam's Razor

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Service-Learning On Kinesiology Students' Attitudes Toward Children With Disabilities, José Santiago, Jihyun Lee, Emily Roper

Faculty Publications

Contact theory (Allport, 1954) served as the framework to investigate undergraduate kinesiology students’ attitudes toward children with disabilities after a service-learning (SL) experience. Fifty-one undergraduate kinesiology students enrolled in an adapted physical education (APE) course served as the experimental group, and 31 undergraduate kinesiology students enrolled in an introductory kinesiology course served as the control group. The Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale–Form A (Yuker, Block, & Younng, 1970) was administered at three different times: before, during, and after the SL. A mixed-design ANOVA revealed that there were no statistically significant main or interaction effects for gender, group, and time on …

Glucose And Acute Exercise Influence Factors Secreted By Circulating Angiogenic Cells In Vitro, Sarah Witkowski, Gayatri Guhanarayan, Rachel Burgess

Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications

Circulating angiogenic cells (CAC) influence vascular repair through the secretion of proangiogenic factors and cytokines. While CAC are deficient in patients with diabetes and exercise has a beneficial effect on CACs, the impact of these factors on paracrine secretion from CAC is unknown. We aimed to determine whether the in vitro secretion of selected cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) from CAC is influenced by hyperglycemia and acute exercise. Colonyforming unit CAC (CFU-CAC) were cultured from young active men (n = 9, 24 ± 2 years) at rest and after exercise under normal (5 mmol/L) and elevated (15 mmol/L) glucose. Preliminary …

Endothelial And Inflammatory Responses To Acute Exercise In Perimenopausal And Late Postmenopausal Women, Corinna Serviente, Lisa M. Troy, Maxine De Jonge, Daniel D. Shill, Nathan T. Jenkins, Sarah Witkowski

Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications

Endothelial dysfunction and inflammation are characteristics of subclinical atherosclerosis and may increase through progressive menopausal stages. Evaluating endothelial responses to acute exercise can reveal underlying dysfunction not apparent in resting conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate markers of endothelial function and inflammation before and after acute exercise in healthy low-active perimenopausal (PERI) and late postmenopausal (POST) women. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD), CD31+/CD42b- and CD62E+ endothelial microparticles (EMPs), and the circulating inflammatory factors monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), interleukin 8 (IL-8), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were measured before and 30 min after acute exercise. Before exercise, FMD was …

Collegiate Coaches’ Knowledge Of The Female Athlete Triad In Relation To Their Characteristics, Jillian E. Frideres, Sue G. Mottinger, Jose M. Palao

Health & Human Performance Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to determine what coaches of female athletes know about the female athlete triad. The sample involved 472 NCAA Division I coaches of female athletes. The variables studied were coaches’ knowledge and confidence about the triad and coaches’ characteristics (coach’s gender, age, type of coach, degree held, years of experience in coaching females, continuing education participation specific to the triad and/or triad components, and sport coached). Coaches’ knowledge of the female athlete triad is higher for coaches who have received triad education. No differences regarding knowledge of the female athlete triad were found by gender, …