Engaging economically disadvantaged adolescent girls in physical activity and healthy eating to improve health and prevent obesity. Secondary school represents the final opportunity to influence individuals as they develop adult lifestyle behaviours and enter a transitional period in their lives. Considering the increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases among Australian adults and increases in the prevalence of obesity among young Australians, targeting health-promoting behaviours in adolescent ....Engaging economically disadvantaged adolescent girls in physical activity and healthy eating to improve health and prevent obesity. Secondary school represents the final opportunity to influence individuals as they develop adult lifestyle behaviours and enter a transitional period in their lives. Considering the increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases among Australian adults and increases in the prevalence of obesity among young Australians, targeting health-promoting behaviours in adolescents is clearly a national priority. Furthermore, rates of obesity are much higher in economically disadvantaged areas, with girls more susceptible to the SES disadvantages. This project has the potential to develop a knowledge base and improve the health behaviours of current and future Australians most at risk for the development of lifestyle diseases.Read moreRead less
Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of beha ....Health-related physical activity: Psychological determinants, consequences, and experimental interventions. Increasingly sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity constitute a worldwide health problem. Despite well-known benefits of physical activity, preventive-medicine interventions have had limited success. Instead, we propose an innovative psychological approach, emphasising quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of behavioural change. We propose psychological determinants of physical activity and a new experimental intervention to significantly enhance health-related physical activity. The research breaks new theoretical ground, extending and integrating different theoretical perspectives, offering a synergy between qualitative and quantitative research traditions, and providing practical benefits to mental and physical health and to quality of life.Read moreRead less
Taking risks with safety gear: Biomechanical and psychological perspectives on risk compensation. This project uniquely combines objective and subjective measures in investigating whether and how people take more risks in the face of safety interventions. Investigating changes in behaviour with safety gear in sport is of benefit because it (a) allows comprehensive measurement of risk-taking behaviour and (b) can result in significant health benefits. These health benefits include reducing sports ....Taking risks with safety gear: Biomechanical and psychological perspectives on risk compensation. This project uniquely combines objective and subjective measures in investigating whether and how people take more risks in the face of safety interventions. Investigating changes in behaviour with safety gear in sport is of benefit because it (a) allows comprehensive measurement of risk-taking behaviour and (b) can result in significant health benefits. These health benefits include reducing sports injuries through improving the efficacy of safety gear, and applications to risk-taking in other health domains, such as patient safety, occupational safety, and transport safety. Through improved methodology, the project should advance international research practice on this controversial topic.Read moreRead less
Mental Toughness: What Makes a Champion? "Mental toughness" is claimed to be what makes champion athletes; separates winners from losers and those who buckle under pressure. Despite widespread use in sport (business, military, etc.) there exist no well-validated mental toughness measures. In collaboration with Australian Institute of Sport and Westfields Sports High School, we will develop a multidimensional, hierarchical measure of mental toughness, test it across gender, age, and different spo ....Mental Toughness: What Makes a Champion? "Mental toughness" is claimed to be what makes champion athletes; separates winners from losers and those who buckle under pressure. Despite widespread use in sport (business, military, etc.) there exist no well-validated mental toughness measures. In collaboration with Australian Institute of Sport and Westfields Sports High School, we will develop a multidimensional, hierarchical measure of mental toughness, test it across gender, age, and different sports, validate it in relation to relevant outcomes, and evaluate its growth/development in athletes varying in age and sporting development. Potential benefits include improved talent identification, counselling, self-concept, coping strategies, coaching, benchmarking, tracking, and athletic performance.Read moreRead less
Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasiz ....Psychological determinants of physical activity across the life span and critical life-stage transitions: Cross-sectional, longitudinal causal modelling, and experimental interventions. Increasingly, sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity are major worldwide health problems. Despite well-established health benefits of physical activity, existing medical-oriented interventions have had limited effects on increasing population-levels of activity. We propose a psychological approach, emphasizing quality of subjective experience (flow), motivation, physical self-concept, and the transtheoretical model of change. We will evaluate psychological determinants of health-related physical activity and implement experimental physical activity enhancing interventions at two critical life stages: for late-adolescents and older Australians. The proposal advances theory and methodology in a National Research Priority area, providing practical solutions to important societal problems with socioeconomic benefits for Australia.Read moreRead less