This study aimed to explore whether a six-week intervention, based on participation in outdoor exercise, including activity-tracking devices and combined with individual consulting sessions, can both increase physical activity and yield positive changes in physiological and psychological health measures. A total of six participants, with a mean age of 41.2 (range 33-50 years), completed the ten-week study and the six-week intervention. The full study consisted of a four-week control/baseline and a six-week intervention period in which each participant acted as their own controls. Continuous measures of physical activity data were collected using a wrist-worn activity sensor during the ten-week study, along with pre- and post-measures of cardiovascular fitness, upper-body strength, BMI, general health, and motivation to exercise. The intervention consisted of a resistance-training programme for an outdoor gym and three motivational interviewing sessions. Effect sizes (percentage) for changes pre- to post-training were calculated. The results, because of the small sample size, are presented as individual cases, but the group, as a whole, showed average increases from baseline (pre-) to post-measures in strength (maximum row; 15.33%), time to exhaustion (3.58%), number of steps per day (4%), and autonomous motivation (12%) and average decreases in body weight (-1.08%), fat percentage (-7.58%), strength (chest; -2.5%), and stress symptoms (-2.17%). The six-week intervention programme showed promising results regarding physical activity changes. This study contributes to the limited evidence of the impact of resistance training programmes using outdoor gyms, electronic tracker, and motivational interviewing on physical activity outcomes. © 2019 by the authors.

Objective: State-of-the-art technologies, for instance smart watches and smartphones, have the potential to positively influence physical activity and exercise in sedentary populations. Psychological factors, such as self-determined (SD) motivation, might influence the impact state-of-the-art technologies have on level of physical activity and exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate if self-determined motivation influences an intervention on both physical activity (PA) and exercise in a sedentary population.

Methods: 16 participants (men = 5, women = 11) with a self-reported low level of PA over the last year and predominantly sedentary jobs volunteered to participate in the study. PA data (steps and exercise time) were collected over an 80-day period using a wrist-worn accelerometer (Apple-watch and iPhone). Motivation was measured with the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2. At the start of the study, each participant completed the questionnaire and received their Apple-watches. Data analysis: All PA and exercise data were recorded through the Apple-watch and via Health App. Data for PA (steps) and exercise time were then extracted and aggregated to daily totals. Statistical analysis: Group means and standard deviations were calculated. A linear regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between exercise time, PA, and SD, the R2 value effect size (ES) was used to estimate the magnitude of the differences. All data analyses were performed in MatLab (software, R2016b).

Results/findings: SD motivation (3.9±0.9) had a medium (R² = 0.09) but not statistically significant (p = .26) effect on the amount of moderate to high-intensity exercise time (33.3±39.6 minutes) during the 80-day period. There was no statistically significant effect (R² = 0.003, p = .84) of SD on PA (12953±7717 steps).

Conclusions: Given the small sample size, achieving a medium effect size has meaningful significance despite not achieving statistical significance. This result suggests that self-determined motivation effects the amount of daily exercise but not PA in a sedentary population. Combining technology and other strategies (e.g., motivational interviewing, coaching) to promote behavior change is promising, and these interventions should include theoretically derived behavior change techniques and take level of SD motivation into account.

Objective: State-of-the-art technologies, for instance smart watches and smartphones, have the potential to positively influence physical activity and exercise in sedentary populations. Psychological factors, such as self-determined (SD) motivation, might influence the impact state-of-the-art technologies have on level of physical activity and exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate if self-determined motivation influences an intervention on both physical activity (PA) and exercise in a sedentary population.

Methods: 16 participants (men = 5, women = 11) with a self-reported low level of PA over the last year and predominantly sedentary jobs volunteered to participate in the study. PA data (steps and exercise time) were collected over an 80-day period using a wrist-worn accelerometer (Apple-watch and iPhone). Motivation was measured with the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2. At the start of the study, each participant completed the questionnaire and received their Apple-watches. Data analysis: All PA and exercise data were recorded through the Apple-watch and via Health App. Data for PA (steps) and exercise time were then extracted and aggregated to daily totals. Statistical analysis: Group means and standard deviations were calculated. A linear regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between exercise time, PA, and SD, the R² value effect size (ES) was used to estimate the magnitude of the differences. All data analyses were performed in MatLab (software, R2016b).

Results/findings: SD motivation (3.9±0.9) had a medium (R² = 0.09) but not statistically significant (p = .26) effect on the amount of moderate to high-intensity exercise time (33.3±39.6 minutes) during the 80-day period. There was no statistically significant effect (R² = 0.003, p = .84) of SD on PA (12953±7717 steps).

Conclusions: Given the small sample size, achieving a medium effect size has meaningful significance despite not achieving statistical significance. This result suggests that self-determined motivation effects the amount of daily exercise but not PA in a sedentary population. Combining technology and other strategies (e.g., motivational interviewing, coaching) to promote behavior change is promising, and these interventions should include theoretically derived behaviour change techniques and take level of SD motivation into account.

The field of sport and exercise psychology (SEP) has experienced a steady growth, and the professional practice and training of students has evolved over that time. Based on 2 past studies, the purpose was to describe a 2015 cohort of SEP students’ hopes, dreams, and worries about the future. The authors performed a thematic content analysis of essays from undergraduate students based on cohorts from 1995, 2005, and 2015. The results showed that the most recent students expressed more worries about the current situation in relation to perceptions about the future of their potential professional practice than the past groups. Four tendencies for the future emerged: continued development of applied sport psychology, increased interdisciplinary exchange and integration, inclusion of exercise and health as a vital part of the field, and increased acceptance of cultural variations. Implications for future professional practice and training in SEP are discussed.

The aim of the study was to examine how players’ perceptions of sociocultural factors and intra- and interpersonal aspects of sporting experiences may have influenced the emotions, cognitions, and behaviours of elite female soccer players prior to the occurrence of ACL injuries. The research questions guiding the study were: (a) how did female elite soccer players perceive that their psychosocial experiences were related to their cognitive, physiological, and emotional states prior to their ACL injuries, and (b) how did the players feel their perceived states influenced their behaviours prior to injury occurrence. The participants consisted of the total population of female players (N = 18) competing in the Swedish women’s elite league, who incurred a total ACL tear during the 2012 season. Using a semi-structured interview guide, all players were interviewed post-season. We represented the data using a storytelling approach of aggregated creative nonfiction. The aggregated stories showed sociocultural rules and expectations of overtraining and placing pressure on athletes to play even if they were not physically or psychologically fit. Responding to pressures with potentially risk-increasing behaviours might raise the probability of becoming injured through a number of pathways. Team managers, coaches, and members of the medical team are recommended to develop environments that stimulate the players to engage in adaptive stress-recovery and risk-decreasing behaviours.

There is limited evidence for what characteristics of supervision delivery facilitate novice supervisees' development. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between supervision-delivery approaches and the perceptions of service-delivery competence development in novice practitioners. The authors interviewed 9 supervisor-supervisee dyads before and after the academic term in which the supervisees had their first applied experiences. Supervisees also completed reflective journal entries regarding their supervisory experiences and development. Data analysis included constant comparative analysis and triangulation of qualitative results with a practitioner-skills inventory. Different approaches to supervision delivery seemed to contribute similarly to novice supervisees' development. Supervisees developed in more areas when the dyads had consistent meetings, close supervisory relationships, feedback, and frequent opportunities for self-reflection and when supervisors adapted the delivery to the supervisees' developmental levels. In addition, factors in supervisees' background, practice, and supervision that contributed to perceptions of service-delivery competence are discussed. © 2018 Human Kinetics, Inc.

Within the field of applied sport psychology, there is an increasing appreciation for diversity of training models, research methodologies, and therapeutic approaches. For example, psychodynamic formulations and interpretations have begun to appear more frequently in the sport psychology literature. In keeping with emerging psychodynamic viewpoints, we believe the time is right to introduce a qualitative sport-specific projective instrument: the Athlete Apperception Technique (AAT). The AAT represents a new technique based on psychodynamic theory and established projective test construction principles. It was designed primarily as a clinical tool for practitioners and not as an instrument for quantitative research into personality. It does, however, have potential research applications, especially in clinical sport case study research and narrative analysis investigations. The AAT produces an idiographic understanding of athletes’ characteristics, anxieties, and motivations (both conscious and unconscious). We briefly review the literature on the development of projective techniques, explain the rationale underlying the development of the AAT, and present three sequential studies to explain the AAT image selection procedures that led to the final product. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.