1,720,995 research outputs found
Predicting physical activity adoption among minority women using structural equation modeling and participatory research
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore individual, social and environmental correlates of physical activity adoption among African American and Hispanic or Latina women using a mixed-method approach. First, a conceptual model of individual, social and environmental factors that influence physical activity was developed by conducting a systematic review of the literature on psychosocial factors related to physical activity. Next, 18 African American and Hispanic or Latina women participated in an in-depth interview to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying factors within the Ecologic Model of Physical Activity framework that contribute to physical activity adoption among minority women. The transcribed interviews were coded and analyzed using thematic content analysis and a constant comparison approach. Women discussed individual level beliefs and attitudes about physical activity and the need for confidence, motivation and time. Women also discussed micro-environmental factors, including their physical neighborhood environments, and safety of and accessibility to physical activity resources, and emphasized caretaking for others and social support, factors in the meso- and exo-environments that demonstrate the linkages between physical environments and physical activity. Themes from in-depth interviews were used to refine the conceptual model and latent constructs included in the model. The model was then analyzed using existing objectively assessed physical activity and neighborhood environment data and questionnaires on body image, self-efficacy, motivational readiness, social support, home environment for physical activity, and perceived environment from the Health Is Power project (PI: Lee, 1R01CA109403). The final model included six latent constructs measured by 61 indicator variables: Measured neighborhood environment, perceived neighborhood environment, home environment, body composition and image, motivational readiness and social support. The proposed structural model fit was acceptable (χ 2=2924.7, df=2080, RMSEA=.035, CFI=.878). Body composition and image and motivational readiness (β=0.155, p=.035) and exercise self-efficacy and home environment ( β=-0.220, p=.001) were significantly associated, and there were significant direct effects on physical activity from exercise self-efficacy (β=-0.164, p=.043) and neighborhood environment (β=0.194, p\u3c.001). Findings from this study contribute knowledge about ecologic, multilevel mechanisms underlying adoption of physical activity among minority women. The resulting model may be used to guide future intervention development and physical activity research
Longitudinal analysis of minority women’s perceptions of cohesion: the role of cooperation, communication, and competition
Get PDFabstract: Background
Interaction in the form of cooperation, communication, and friendly competition theoretically precede the development of group cohesion, which often precedes adherence to health promotion programs. The purpose of this manuscript was to explore longitudinal relationships among dimensions of group cohesion and group-interaction variables to inform and improve group-based strategies within programs aimed at promoting physical activity.
Methods
Ethnic minority women completed a group dynamics-based physical activity promotion intervention (N = 103; 73% African American; 27% Hispanic/Latina; mage = 47.89 + 8.17 years; mBMI = 34.43+ 8.07 kg/m[superscript 2]) and assessments of group cohesion and group-interaction variables at baseline, 6 months (post-program), and 12 months (follow-up).
Results
All four dimensions of group cohesion had significant (ps < 0.01) relationships with the group-interaction variables. Competition was a consistently strong predictor of cohesion, while cooperation did not demonstrate consistent patterns of prediction.
Conclusions
Facilitating a sense of friendly competition may increase engagement in physical activity programs by bolstering group cohesion.The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5868-11-5
The relationship between body image and physical activity in African American women
No full textHigh rates of overweight and obesity in African American women have been attributed, in part, to poor health habits, such as physical inactivity, and cultural influences on body image perceptions. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among body mass index (BMI=kg/m2), body image perception (perceived and desired) and physical activity, both self-reported and objectively measured. Anthropometric measures of BMI and Pulvers\u27 culturally relevant body image, physical activity and demographic data were collected from 249 African American women in Houston. Women ( M = 44.8 yrs, SD = 9.5) were educated (53% college graduates) and were overweight (M = 35.0 kg/m2, SD = 9.2). Less than half of women perceived their weight correctly regardless of their actual weight (p \u3c 0.001). Nearly three-fourths (73.9%) of women who were normal weight desired to be obese, and only 39.4% of women desired to be normal weight, regardless of actual or perceived weight. Women in all weight classes (normal, overweight and obese) varied in objective measures of physical activity (F(2,112) = 4.424, p = .014). Regression analyses showed objectively measured physical activity was significantly associated with BMI ( Beta = -2.45, p \u3c .01) and self-reported walking was significantly associated with perceived BMI (Beta = -.156, p = .017). Results suggest African American women who are smaller want to be larger and African American women who are larger want to be smaller, revealing dichotomous distortion in body images. Low rates of physical activity may be a factor. Research is needed to increase physical activity levels in African American women, leading to improved satisfaction with normal weight as desirable for health and beauty. Supported by NCI (NIH) 1R01CA109403
Health Justice and Kinesiology Research: An Interview with Dr. Scherezade K. Mama
Get PDFThe Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis has traditionally published interviews with individuals who have strong connections to our special issue topics. We believe that interviews are important ways to contribute to the conversation surrounding critical issues in social justice.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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