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Jogging and other relaxation techniques help some people reduce psychological stress. Little is known, however, about the benefits for people who do not personally select the particular activity, or about comparable effectiveness. We compared the stress reduction benefits of jogging, Benson's relaxation response, group interaction, and a control group in a nonclinical population. College students (iV=387) were randomly assigned to treatment. After completing the Profile of Mood States (POMS), a demographic inventory, and a measure of social desirability, students practiced a stress reduction activity for 12 weeks. They completed the POMS before and after group meetings at monthly intervals. Jogging and the relaxation response helped students reduce short-term stress significantly more than did group support (p<.04). Students in all three techniques reported significantly greater short-term reductions in stress than did the controls (p<.03). Given that there were no long-term benefits, participants need to practice their activities regularly if they want continued benefits.

Mood states influence evaluative judgments that can affect the decision to exercise or to continue to exercise. This study examined how mood associated with graded exercise testing (GXT) in sedentary, obese, postmenopausal women (N = 25) was associated with physical activity and predicted VO_2max during and after a behavioral weight-loss program (BWLP). Measures of physical activity included planned exercise, calories from physical activity, leisure-time physical activity, and predicted VO_2max. Mood before and after pre-BWLP GXT was assessed using the Profile of Mood States. Mood before and after the GXT was more strongly associated with planned exercise than other forms of physical activity, and this effect became stronger over time. Mood enhancement in response to exercise was not related to physical activity. Mood before and after exercise might yield important clinical information that can be used to promote physical activity in sedentary adults.

Perceived competence and global self-worth of children who were poorly coordinated (n = 68) and children who were well-coordinated (n = 62) were examined. Measures of perceived athletic and scholastic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, and global self-worth were obtained using Harter’s (1985) Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC). Girls and boys, ages 8 to 12, were categorized as poorly coordinated or well-coordinated using their scores on the McCarron (1982) Neuromuscular Development battery. Univariate analyses, using a 2 × 2 design (Coordination × Gender), showed a main effect of coordination in all domains, with the poorly coordinated group having the lower mean scores. In the scholastic, behavioral, and global sphere, coordination by gender interactions were influenced by the high perceptions of the well-coordinated girls. The interactions demonstrated for scholastic and global domains also were influenced by the low perceptions of the girls with poor coordination. Self-perceptions were modified by gender and coordination.

According to competence motivation theory, children who are successful at movement will be intrinsically motivated in the motor domain (Harter, 1978, 1981a). By contrast, intrinsic motivation of children who repeatedly fail at movement is likely to diminish. The present study aimed to examine motivational orientations of children (N = 130) who differed in motor ability. Children (age 8-12) were categorized as coordinated (n = 62) or poorly coordinated (n = 68) according to scores on a neuromuscular development battery (McCarron, 1982). The poorly coordinated group was less motivated by challenge than well-coordinated participants as measured on the Motivational Orientation in Sport Scale (Weiss, Bredemeier, & Shewchuk, 1985a). Girls were less intrinsically motivated toward challenge than boys. There was little support that movement competence and motivational orientation are linked.

The exercise motivation of American and Chinese college women was examined. American women were found to exercise more for fitness, physical attractiveness, and weight control, and the Chinese women more for enjoyment. Women in different stages of exercise behavior expressed different reasons for exercise in terms of enjoyment, fitness, health, mood, and physical attractiveness. Focusing one’s attention on reasons such as enjoyment for Chinese women and fitness, physical attractiveness, and weight control for American women may be important in terms of exercise participation. The long-term exercisers expressed higher levels of motivation in terms of enjoyment, fitness, health, mood, and physical attractiveness.

Whereas exercise-induced mood enhancement has been well documented, the relationship between mood and exercise participation is less well understood. Mood states influence evaluative judgments that could plausibly influence a decision to exercise. Further, most exercise-mood research is limited to normal weight adults in response to a single exercise session. The current investigation examines the influence of (a) morning mood on exercise, (b) exercise intensity/duration on mood enhancement, and (c) daily change in mood on exercise days compared with nonexercise days in obese behavioral weight loss program (BWLP) participants. Participants (N = 36) recorded morning, evening, and pre- and postexercise mood, as well as the type, duration, and intensity of exercise. Within-person analyses indicated that (a) morning mood was associated with an increased likelihood of exercising, (b) mood ratings were higher following exercise of greater intensity and duration, and (c) daily mood enhancement was associated with greater exercise initiation and greater exercise intensity. Measuring mood before and after exercise may yield important clinical information that can be used to promote physical activity in obese adults.

This study examined changes in mood and performance in response to high-intensity, short-duration overtraining and a subsequent taper. Pursuit cyclists (N = 8) at the United States Olympic Training Center completed the POMS and simulated 4-km pursuit performance tests throughout a six-week period. The six-week period included a baseline week, three weeks of overtraining that consisted primarily of high-intensity interval training, and a two-week taper. Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) scores displayed a quadratic polynomial effect across the three weeks of overtraining (p < .01), with the highest TMD scores occurring in the second week. Average TMD scores were lower during the taper than at baseline (p < .02) and lower at taper than overtraining (p < .0005). Cycling performance (pursuit time and average power output) improved during the three weeks of overtraining; additional improvements were observed during the taper. There were no significant correlations between TMD and performance. However, pursuit time, average power output, and mood disturbance scores were at optimal levels throughout the taper period. These findings suggest that high-intensity, short-duration overtraining may not result in an overtraining syndrome in 4-km pursuit cyclists.