The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between the constructs of motivational theories, Self-Determination Theory and Health Belief Model, and adherence to a home exercise program. The constructs of Self-Determination Theory are autonomy, competence, and social relatedness. The constructs of Health Belief Model are perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived severity, and perceived susceptibility. Participants were receiving therapy at two outpatient clinics located in the Phoenix metropolitan area (n=40). Autonomy was assessed with a modified Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire. Competence was assessed with a modified Perceived Competence Scale. Social relatedness was assessed with a modified Health Care Climate Questionnaire. Perceived benefits and barriers were measured with a modified Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale. Perceived severity and susceptibility were measured with a modified Health Beliefs Questionnaire. Adherence was measured with one Likert-type question that was created by the researchers. The data was scored and analyzed with the scoring guidelines provided by the questionnaires and the statistics software, IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The results showed that competence was the only construct that was significantly correlated with home exercise program adherence. The results from this study should be used for further research that focuses on creating a competence-supportive environment in physical therapy settings.

Research indicates patient adherence to physical therapy home exercise programs is low and this is confirmed anecdotally by people working in the field. Many patients do not improve at the desired rate because they are only coming into the clinic for two to three days a week and then do not continue with their exercises at home. This thesis project was focused on designing a mobile application that would better help physical therapists facilitate home exercises for their patients. The goals of this application were to make it easier for patients to remember what they need to do and how often they need to do it, to increase patient improvements by making it easier to access and complete assigned exercises, and to make the physical therapist more efficient and effective by assigning the exercises through a program that can be easily altered. In order to create this application, research on self-efficacy, adherence, and behavior strategies and theories was collected. Then, interviews with physical therapists and patients were completed to determine what content should be added to the application for patients to be successful and to determine what features they believed would best facilitate exercise adherence. Lastly, the application and its features were designed based on the collected research and interviews.

This observational study explored the motivational factors for recreational cyclists participating in a charity cycling event held by a Christian based nonprofit, the Fuller Center. Participants (n=22; men: n=10; women: n=12) cycled at least one 302 mile segment of a bike ride distancing the whole West Coast (1,657 miles). The purpose of the study was to determine the motives for the cyclists' participation and to then classify those motives as intrinsic or extrinsic. A scale used to measure motivation of marathoners was transcribed to match those of the cycling participants to assess motivation. The participants were divided into 4 groups based on self-reported experience levels, and it was shown that across all types of experience levels, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators were expressed but with greater emphasis on intrinsic factors. The most commonly indicated intrinsic motivation subcategories were life meaning, personal goal achievement, and affiliation, with affiliation being recognized by every individual. The most commonly indicated extrinsic subcategories were competition, recognition, health orientation, and weight concern. Though each rider's story was signature to the individual, the very specific religious background and philanthropic mission of the Fuller Center Bike Adventure weighed heavily into each individual's motivation alongside the classified intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Therefore, this research offered valuable data about motivation of recreational cyclists but future studies should focus on a less specific population.

The objective of this project was to complete an in-depth design study for the creation of a prophylactic knee brace. Background literature research analysis demonstrated that soft tissue injuries of the knee were the most prominent injuries related to the knee joint. The literature exhibited that the leading injury of the knee joint consisted of ACL lesions and meniscal tears. Utilizing the information obtained, it was determined that the objective of the knee brace was to emphasize prophylaxis of soft tissue injuries. As such, further analysis was performed in order to analyze injury mechanisms and knee joint biomechanics that would be relevant in injury prevention. An epidemiological review was also conducted regarding current braces that existed in the market today. These results were accounted for when formulating a novel design for the prophylactic device. The key feature of the brace is the implementation of shear-thickening fluid, a non-Newtonian fluid that is able to exhibit fluid-like properties at rest and solid-like properties when impacted by an outside force. This unique property is ideal for a knee brace for its enhanced adaptability and protective effects. A three dimensional digital prototype was designed in a SolidWorks software as the final result. Future endeavors consist of developing a physical prototype and conducting stress and strain analysis of the device in addition to testing its efficacy in human trials. After completion of testing and necessary revisions the goal will be to patent the technology and commercialize the brace into a device available on the public market.

Athletes at any level of competition face high-stress environments in which they are still expected to perform at a high level. Because of this, athletes require mental toughness in order to skillfully perform and hopefully outperform their opponents. Mental toughness in sport is a term used to describe a variety of psychological skills that an athlete utilizes that allows them to perform better and more consistently than their competitors. This study was designed to determine whether mental toughness distinguished pole vaulters at three different levels of competition. It was hypothesized that post-collegiate athletes would have higher mental toughness scores than collegiate athletes who would subsequently score higher than high school athletes. Two questionnaires were given to high school, collegiate, and post-collegiate pole vaulters (n = 65) to determine total mental toughness scores as well as scores for eight different subcategories of mental toughness including motivation, self-belief, intensity, focus, control, coping, thriving on pressure, and assertiveness. ANOVA and multiple comparisons demonstrated that mental toughness differentiated post-collegiate pole vaulters from high school pole vaulters, but not between collegiate and post-collegiate. Additionally, collegiate and post-collegiate vaulters scored significantly higher than high school vaulters in the subcategories of motivation and control. Data also showed that male competitors demonstrated significantly higher mental toughness scores than female athletes on both questionnaires. Based on the research, knowing that mental toughness scores differentiate high school pole vaulters from elite pole vaulters (particularly in the areas of control and motivation) could set the foundation for training programs and targeted psychological interventions for younger athletes.

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of an intervention involving physical practice combined with motor imagery and physical practice alone on swimming performance for fifty-yard freestyle. Forty-five male and female high school swimmers were participants on two different high school teams. One team was the treatment group, which included the participants partaking in both motor imagery and physical practice. The other team served as the age matched control group, and the swimmers participated in physical practice only. The combined practice group performed motor imagery three times per week and physical practice five times per week. The physical practice only group performed physical practice five times per week. Each group performed their respective tasks for 9-weeks. Pre-, half-point, and post-tests consisted of a timed fifty-yard freestyle. The treatment group produced significantly faster times on the percent change in swim time scores in comparison to the control group for the half-time to post-time and pre-time to post-time score (p=.000). The treatment group also produced better performances on the pre-time to half-time scores, however, the results were not statistically significant (p = .009). Findings, therefore, support the effectiveness of motor imagery in enhancing swim performance, when combined with physical practice.

Mental toughness is frequently cited as a key psychological component for superior athletic performance. The purpose of this study was to determine if differences in mental toughness exist between female soccer players at different levels of collegiate competition: intramural, club, and varsity. Based on the available literature, a progressive relationship between mental toughness and level of competition was hypothesized. A total of sixty-two athletes (n=62) were recruited from the intramural, club and varsity soccer teams and administered the Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMQT). Descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variances (ANOVA) revealed no significant differences between total mental toughness or subcategories (confidence, constancy, control) of mental toughness between athletes of different levels. Though these findings were surprising, there are several possible explanations as to why no relationship could be established. The study controlled for age and gender which may have proved to be a limitation. Other limitations included a small sample size, a brief questionnaire and the timing of the administration of the questionnaire. Future research should examine gender and sport differences in mental toughness across the three collegiate competitive levels as well as examine how/if mental toughness can change over the course of a competitive season.

Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern in the United States. For several years, many interventions have been established to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity. However, these interventions have not adequately utilized existing models of behavior change, and as a result, have been unsuccessful in increasing levels of physical activity and healthy dietary intake. One such model of change, the Transtheoretical Model, views behavior change as occurring through a series of stages with progression through the stages being facilitated by cognitive and behavioral processes. Within these processes the constructs of consciousness-raising, helping relationships, and self-efficacy have been shown to be most influential in changing behaviors. Thus, the objective of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of such constructs and establish a multi-faceted approach to combat this epidemic.

The purpose of the present study was to determine if a relationship exists between adaptive patterns of causal attributions, adherence, and outcome success in physical therapy behavior. Adaptive casual attributions were defined as internal, controllable, and stable attributions as per Weiner's Attribution Theory of Motivation. Participants were seeking physical therapy for a post-surgical knee injury, with (n=3). Attributions were measured using the CDSII questionnaire, and outcome success was measured by the KOOS questionnaire to assess various dimensions of knee functionality. The respective physical therapist for the patient also completed the RAdMAT questionnaire to measure adherence. The data collected for all participants was analyzed qualitatively, with some emphasis on quantitative findings. Results showed mixed evidence for a relationship between adaptive attributions and adherence across the three participants. A trend toward a relationship between adaptive attributions and outcome success was observed in one participant. In addition, it was observed that adherence does play an indirect role in relating adaptive attributions and outcome success for physical therapy. Conclusions drawn from this pilot study should be used to further educate physical therapists and respective patients in how to improve adherence and experience positive outcomes for rehabilitation.

Training the bench press exercise on a traditional flat bench does not induce a level of instability as seen in sport movements and activities of daily living. Because of this, many new types of equipment have been created in an attempt to induce instability, such as the COR Bench. 15 males and 7 females between the ages of 18 and 30 were recruited for the present study, which tested two forms of instability: using one dumbbell rather than two, and lifting on the COR bench compared to a flat bench. Thusly, EMG was used to measure muscle activity in four separate conditions of unilateral bench press movements: on a flat bench with one dumbbell, on a flat bench with two dumbbells, on the COR Bench with one dumbbell, and on the COR Bench with two dumbbells. Results indicated that lifting with one dumbbell compared to two dumbbells on the flat bench significantly increased muscle activity across all four muscles being analyzed (pectoralis major, p = .005; middle trapezius, p = .008; external obliques, p = .004; and internal obliques, p = .003), but lifting with one dumbbell compared to two dumbbells on the COR Bench only significantly increased muscle activity in the middle trapezius (p = .001), external obliques(p = . 032), and internal obliques (p = .001). The only muscle to exhibit a significant increase in muscle activity when going from one dumbbell on the flat bench to one dumbbell on the COR Bench was the middle trapezius (p = .010). These results imply that the COR Bench itself does not increase muscle activity as much as switching from two dumbbells to one dumbbell, regardless of the bench being used.