Abstract

Regular physical activity and balanced nutrition are important in maintaining a healthy weight. Nonetheless, minority populations, like Hispanics, face challenges (e.g., language barriers and transportation unavailability) that limit their participation in intervention programs to receive benefits. Furthermore, dog companionship has been shown to relate to adolescents’ behavioral and socio-emotional development positively, and it has been shown to have the potential to increase physical activity in adolescence. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the feasibility, i.e., program adaptation, limited efficacy, and acceptability, of the two exercise and nutrition education interventions to improve body composition, motivation, and well-being in overweight and obese Hispanic adolescents. This pilot study was a quasi-experimental trial with eight pediatrician-referred participants (Mage =11.75±1.48) assigned to two parallel arms: 1) BRAVO! and 2) BRAVO!+. Both share identical exercise (24 hours) and nutrition (12 hours) programs centered on the self-determination theory for 12 weeks. The results suggested, first, acceptable attendance (BRAVO! = 56.25%; BRAVO!+ = 64.58%) but poor retention (BRAVO! = 33.33%; BRAVO!+ = 63.63%). Second, the findings suggested promising limited efficacy in BRAVO!+ group, with small but statistically non significant reductions in participants’ BMI (Mbaseline = 33.08±6.13; Mpost = 32.23±6.88; t[3] = 1.633, p = 0.201) and weight (Mbaseline = 78.13±16.22; Mpost = 77.62±17.64; t[3] = 0.485, p = 0.661). In addition, the results suggested high satisfaction and acceptable suitability for both programs and providing important suggestions for the future. In conclusion, our pilot study findings only partially supported the feasibility of the pet-dog-enhanced lifestyle intervention. Although this study found evidence that pet-dog companionship can improve program satisfaction and acceptability of pediatric lifestyle interventions, including a pet-dog in the intervention may contribute to high dropout evidenced in this study.

Abstract

Although research has shown that the prevalence of ill-being among collegiate student-athletes is greater compared to regular college students and general population, very little is known about the role of coaches in this process. Grounded in the achievement goal and self-determination theories, the aim of this study was to examine the role of coach-created motivational climate on student-athletes’ anxiety and depression. A sample for this prospective cohort study was 117 (77 females and 34 males; Mage = 20.24±1.35) student-athletes recruited from one university in the Southeastern US. The research team collected self-reported data via email. The results showed high levels of anxiety (71.4%) and depression (17.3%) among the respondents. Females had almost seven times more likely to have anxiety than males (OR = 6.903, CI95% [1.650, 28.830]), but there were no gender differences in the prevalence of depression (OR = 1.166, CI95% [.442, 3.076]). In addition, parameter estimates suggest that coach-created taskinvolving climate (χ2[1] = -1.21 [.61], p = .047, CI95% [-2.41, -.01]) and autonomy-support (χ2[1] = -1.21 [.61], p = .047, CI95% [-2.39, -.04]) were significant negative predictors of anxiety, whereas controlling motivational climate increased student-athletes’ anxiety symptoms. Our findings highlight the need for the task- and autonomy-supportive coaching strategies as preventive measures to support student-athletes’ mental health..