The purpose of this study was to develop the Waseda Affect Scale of Exercise and Durable Activity (WASEDA), a measure of psychological states to the stimulus properties of acute exercise. The WASEDA consists of 12 items that capture 3 distinct affects: Negative affect, Positive engagement and Tranquility showed by factor analysis. The subscales have good internal consistency, content and factorial validity. The second purpose of present study was to examine psychological responses in acute exercise using WASEDA. According to employing WASEDA, it was suggested that participants reported desirable affects after moderate-intensity stationary cycling. Also, the subject's exercise of self-paced walking improved their psychological states. Moreover, discriminant validity for the WASEDA subscales was demonstrated by examining psychological responses shown in acute exercise. Finally, several directions for shown WASEDA were proposed.

View full abstract

We examined the effects of physical activity on social skill and cognitive appraisal of stressors in school-aged children. Participants (873 pupils in Grades 4 through 6; 434 boys and 439 girls) completed the Assessment Scale of Physical Activity for Children (Uechi et al., 2000), the Social Skills Scale for Children (Shimada, 1998) and the Cognitive Appraisal Scale for Children (Shimada, 1998). Multiple regression analyses indicated that social skill improved due to physical activity with friends and family. Physical activity had a positive effect on cognitive appraisal of stressors in both boys and girls. It is concluded that engaging in physical activities with friends and family may moderate negative effects of stress by improving social skill of children.

View full abstract

We examined the psychophysiological reactions of alexithymic participants to emotion-provoking slides. Alexithymia was assessed using the TAS-26. Participants were 25 undergraduate students, who were divided into an alexithymic group (N=12) and a non-alexithymic group (N=13) according to TAS-26 scores. For 30 seconds, participants viewed slides designed to provoke positive or negative emotions, while their facial EMG (zygomatic major and corrugator supercilii), HR, SBP and DBP were recorded. Participants' subjective feelings were assessed using a checklist. Results indicated that the alexithymic group had low reactivity in corrugator supercilii muscle, as well as low subjective appraisal of the displeasure resulting from slides provoking negative emotions. The alexithymic group showed high SBP reactivity and high corrugator supercilii muscle reactivity during the baseline session. The significance of these characteristics are discussed in terms of emotional information processing and the situational stress response.

View full abstract

To investigate the function of cognitive control (Bandura, 1977b), a newly developed Cognitive Control Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) were completed by two samples of female university students (Sample 1: N = 141, Sample 2: N = 155). To examine the construct validity of the Cognitive Control Scale, we also administered the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Sakano & Tohjoh, 1986) and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (Narita et al., 1995) to Sample 2. Exploratory factor analysis of the Cognitive Control Scale using data from both samples (N = 289: observations with no missing values) revealed two factors: “analysis of thought and behavior” and “reframing”. The two-factor structure was validated by confirmatory factor analysis. Scores on the Cognitive Control Scale were correlated with the General Self-Efficacy Scale and the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, demonstrating the construct validity of the new scale. We examined the relationship between cognitive control and depression using covariance structure analysis (N=287: observations with no missing values). Results indicated (with the path coefficients of influence): (1) “Analysis of thought and behavior ”enhanced “reframing” (.54): (2) “Analysis of thought and behavior” enhanced depression (.52): (3) “Refraining”reduced depression (=.57). These results suggest that “reframing” played an important role in reducing depression and “analysis of thought and behavior” reduced depression indirectly by promoting “reframing”, while it enhanced depression directly. The model explained 28% of the variance in depression, indicating that Cognitive Control is an important factor regulating depression.

View full abstract

We investigated caregiving conditions and the relationship between caregivers and impaired elderly people as predictors of caregivers' burnout. Participants were 783 family members caring for elderly people aged 65 and over, who had elderly care insurance. A questionnaire surveyed the demographic characteristics, and the physical and mental conditions of elderly people; as well as caregiving conditions, social support, and burnout. Results indicated that caregiving conditions were different in different generations. Social support and caregivers' burnout varied as a function of gender. The analysis of predictors suggests that positive and negative aspects of social support must be considered in order to fully understand caregivers' burnout.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of Assertion Training of Humanistic Psychological Approach (AT-HPA) which emphasizes beliefs and attitudes concerning assertion rather than behavioral skills. Eleven middle aged women participated in AT-HPA program, which consisted of theory course and exercise course, for 10 weeks. They answered Assertion Inventory (AI) and Assertive Mind Scale (AMS) 5 times:pretest, middle test, post test, follow-up 1 month test and follow-up 3 months test. AI assessed behavioral skills of assertion and AMS assesses beliefs and attitudes of it. There was no significant change on AI in multiple comparison tests. On the other hand, there was significant increase on AMS from pretest up to post test and this effect maintained until follow-up 1 month test. Standard deviation of AMS was smaller than that of AI. This result implied that effects of AT-HPA on beliefs and attitudes were more stable than on behavioral skills. It was concluded that AT-HPA effects on beliefs and attitudes rather than on behavioral skill.

View full abstract

The measure for self-efficacy (SE) to physical activity (PA) and exercise has been developed for various types of people and adopted on the basis of quantitative and qualitative research with disease patients. In this review, we discuss the extant literature dealing with the influential roles of SE in relation to PA and exercise for disease patients. We review PA- and exercise-related SE studies classifying into the following research areas: cardiopulmonary disease and arthritis. In each research area, we first introduce various measurements used in PA- and exercise-related SE, and consider with some parts according to the following research purposes: for cardiopulmonary disease patients, 1) SE role as a determinant or predictor to PA and exercise, 2) SE role as an outcome of intervention, and 3) SE manipulation; and for arthritis patients, 1) pain-related SE, 2) task SE, and 3) SE enhancement. Finally, we conclude with remarks for future applications of SE theory to PA and exercise domain and propose more practical program development using SE and other behavior change strategies.

View full abstract