Incorporating Personality Assessment Into Counseling to Help College Students Adopt and Maintain Exercise Behaviors

Exercise Prescription Practices Among Mental Health Professionals on College Campuses: Testing the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model

BACKGROUND

The co-occurrence of physical inactivity and poor mental health in the college student population can lead to chronic health issues that have negative short-term effects (e.g., academic success). Poor mental health is associated with long-term conditions (e.g., obesity, serious mental illness) that are linked to premature mortality. The purpose of this study was to examine the information-motivation-behavioral (IMB) skills model and evaluate its ability to explain the variance in the use of exercise prescription in mental health treatment.

METHOD

Mental health professionals (MHPs) (n = 255) were recruited from college counseling centers in the USA. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between the predictor variables of information (exercise knowledge and benefits of exercise), motivation (personal beliefs, perceived barriers, and organizational support), and behavioral skills (self-efficacy), and the outcome variable of exercise prescription (i.e., brief counseling and referral for exercise).

RESULTS

The predictors accounted for 23% of the variance in exercise prescription (p = .001). Organizational support had a significant direct effect on exercise prescription (β = 0.27, p = .05). Personal beliefs (β = 0.96, p = .05) and organizational support (β = 0.31, p = .04) had significant direct effects on self-efficacy for prescribing exercise. MHP personal exercise behavior was associated with exercise prescription.

CONCLUSION

MHPs may be willing to support physical activity promotion and exercise prescription, but organizational structures are critical to enhance and sustain the delivery of this adjunctive therapy. The personal exercise history of MHPs may be an important consideration for behavior change interventions. The development and validation of scales are important considerations for future intervention study design.

Gender differences in depression, anxiety, and stress among college students: A longitudinal study from China

BACKGROUND

The objective of this longitudinal study was to examine the gender differences in college students' depression, anxiety, and stress over the four academic years, and to explore possible anxiety-related factors among first year students.

METHODS

The study analyzed 1892 undergraduate students from 15 universities in China, with 898 females and 994 males. The students have been followed for four years and completed a survey containing the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 questionnaire, students' socio-demographic information, and their educational background, etc. RESULTS: (1) On average, both female and male college students suffered from mild anxiety in the first three years. Female students scored significantly higher in anxiety than males in the first and second years, and there was no significant gender difference in students' average depression and stress levels. (2) A significantly larger proportion of female students experienced anxiety above the normal threshold, whereas a higher percentage of male students endured different degrees of depression; no significant gender differences were found in stress problems. (3) Anxiety had a significant positive correlation with introversion. Female freshmen's anxiety levels were also associated with their body image, drinking habits, and academic performance.

LIMITATIONS

Response bias may exist considering that self-reported data was used. Due to data unavailability, we only explored the anxiety-related factors in freshman year, which cannot sufficiently reflect the consistency of correlations over time.

CONCLUSIONS

Anxiety turned out to be the most prevalent and serious issue for college students, especially for female students; while a growing prevalence of depression was found among male students during college. It is of great significance to adopt collegiate policies reflecting the gender differentials.

Personality Assessment for Employee Development: Ivory Tower or Real World?

The acceptance and popularity of personality assessments in organizational contexts has grown enormously over the last 40 years. Although these are used across many applications, such as executive coaching, team building, and hiring and promotion decisions, the focus of most published research on the use of personality assessments at work is biased toward assessment for employee selection. Reviews have therefore tended to use criteria that are appropriate for selection, neglecting the additional and different criteria that are important in relation to employee development. An illustration of the often-discussed scientist-practitioner divide is that the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is the most widely known and used personality assessment in organizations, despite harsh criticism by the academic community. This article reviews this debate, and draws implications for the appropriate choice of personality assessments for use in individual and team development, and a new direction for scientific research.

Pairing exercise with activity: new tools for inspiring active lifestyles

The concept of "fitness personality" has been a topic of growing interest in the past few decades, and recent findings suggest it can be used to open a dialogue with patients about their activity choices. Clinicians who understand how seven personality dimensions (sociability, spontaneity, self-motivation, aggressiveness, competitiveness, aggressiveness, mental focus, and risk taking) relate to various sports can help patients identify more satisfying activities. By using simple tools for matching personality types with activities, physicians may increase patient compliance with exercise prescriptions. Patients who complete a personality assessment may gain insights and additional motivation to pursue regular exercise and fitness for a lifetime.