Trust in alternative and professional media: The case of the youth news audiences in three European countries

Abstract

This exploratory paper applying cross-cultural and developmental perspective analyses and discusses trust in alternative media and its relation to trust in professional media, seeking to identify the national specifics of media trust and its developmental patterns. Employing 2016 survey data of Czech, Estonian and Greek youth (aged 14–25, N = 3654) collected as part of the international CATCH-EyoU project (Horizon 2020), the study outlines the typology of media trust, comprising trust in alternative and professional media, and compares social and political predictors influencing media trust in the three countries. The study illustrates the diversity of relations between the two types of media trust, concluding that differences in selected predictors of media trust and the distribution of media trust types across national sub-samples illuminate the strong role national context plays, illustrating the varying pathways development of media trust follows in these varied contexts along socioeconomic and cultural lines.     

Long-term follow-up of physical activity behavior in older adults.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the contribution of social-cognitive factors (self-efficacy and affect) in predicting long-term physical activity in a sample of older adults (N=174). DESIGN: A prospective design assessed physical activity and psychosocial variables at 2 and 5 years following a 6-month randomized, controlled exercise trial. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome variable was self-reported physical activity, with previous behavior, self-efficacy, and affect assessed as determinants of physical activity. RESULTS: Covariance modeling analyses indicated that physical activity at Year 2 was the strongest predictor of physical activity at 5-year follow-up. Both self-efficacy and affect at Year 2 were also associated with physical activity at Year 5, as was original treatment condition. Variables accounted for 35% of the variance in Year 5 activity. CONCLUSION: Older adults with higher levels of physical activity, more positive affect, and higher self-efficacy at Year 2 were more likely to continue to be active at Year 5. This study is one of the longest follow-ups of exercise behavior in older adults and has implications for structuring environments to maximize the maintenance of physical activity.     

Developing an instrument to measure physical activity related self-worth in women: Rasch analysis of the Women's Physical Activity Self-Worth Inventory (WPASWI)

ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to report on the development of an instrument to assess non-physical aspects of physical activity (PA)-related self-worth (SW).MethodsThree hundred thirty five women (mean age = 36.69 ± 15.94 yrs, BMI = 24.87 ± 4.56) completed the Women's Physical Activity Self-Worth Inventory (WPASWI), General SW Scale, and a PA Questionnaire. Rasch analysis was used to evaluate the WPASWI.ResultsThree PA-related SW subscales were identified: PA Knowledge (16 items), PA Emotional (13 items), and PA Social (8 items). Rasch analysis supported construct validity, and items demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90, 0.87 and 0.72) and test-re-test reliability (r = 0.79, 0.70, 0.81). Women who reported regular PA participation had higher PA Knowledge, PA Emotional, PA Social, and General SW than those who reported some or no PA (p < 0.01) and correlations between Knowledge, Emotional, and Social SW subscales and General SW were 0.207, 0.130, and 0.220, respectively. PA Knowledge and PA Emotional SW had stronger correlations with PA (r = 0.344, 0.273, respectively) than did General SW (r = 0.133).ConclusionsThe WPASWI demonstrated good internal consistency, reliability, construct validity and a stronger relationship with PA than a General SW instrument.     

Habit strength moderates the strength of within-person relations between weekly self-reported and objectively-assessed physical activity

ObjectivesPhysical activity (PA) habit strength influences how people control their PA and may also influence how people encode, store, or recall their PA. This study evaluated whether individual differences in PA habit strength moderated the magnitude of within-person associations between weekly self-reported PA and step counts.DesignLongitudinal.MethodAfter an initial assessment of PA habit strength, university students wore pedometers for four weeks and completed four self-reports of weekly mild, moderate, and strenuous PA.ResultsOn average, people's weekly step counts and self-reported PA across time were weakly-to-moderately associated, but there was substantial variability in the magnitude of these associations across people. People with strong PA habits had weaker within-person associations between deviations from their average self-reported PA and step counts than those with weak PA habits.ConclusionsThese results may indicate that PA habit strength influences the sensitivity of self-report PA measures to change in objectively-measured PA.     

Self-efficacy Manipulation and State Anxiety Responses to Exercise in Low Active Women

The present study manipulated self-efficacy in an exercise context and examined its effect on the state anxiety of low active women. Participants ( N = 59) were randomly assigned to a low or high efficacy condition, and self-efficacy was manipulated by presentation of computer-generated false feedback after a graded exercise test. Participants returned for a second exercise bout several days later. Efficacy was successfully manipulated and participants in the high efficacy condition reported significantly less anxiety than those in the low efficacy condition both after the graded exercise test and before and after an acute bout of exercise. Results are discussed in terms of the effect of exercise intensity and manipulation condition on anxiety.     

A Daily Process Approach to Depict Satisfaction with Life during the Menopausal Transition: Physical (In)activity,Symptoms, and Neuroticism

The main objectives of the present study were (1) to examine the between- and within-person association of physical (in)activity and satisfaction with life (SWL), and (2) to identify relevant top-down and bottom-up influences associated with daily well-being in menopausal women using a daily process approach. As part of a 21-day diary study, community-dwelling middle-aged women (N = 103; age range 40–60 years) wore an accelerometer for the objective assessment of physical activity and completed daily Internet surveys at the end of their day. Multilevel analyses indicated the between-person effects of physical activity on SWL were negligent but that on days when a woman was more physically active than her usual, she reported greater SWL (B = 12.01, p < .05). Sedentary behavior did not demonstrate a between- or within-person association with SWL. Women also experienced reduced SWL on days when greater symptom burden was reported (B = ?2.47, p < .05). Neuroticism also emerged as a top-down personality trait with a negative relation to SWL (B = ?1.47, p < .05). Higher levels of neuroticism predicted reduced daily life satisfaction particularly on days characterized by heightened symptom burden (B = ?0.26, p < .05). In this sample of midlife women, daily physical activity had a positive influence on SWL, whereas daily symptom burden and the personality trait of neuroticism had detrimental consequences on a woman’s daily well-being.     

Physical activity-related well-being in older adults: social cognitive influences

In this study, the pattern and correlates of physical activity-related well-being in older adults (N = 174; men = 49, women = 125; mean age = 66 years) were examined across a 6-month exercise trial. Baseline levels of self-efficacy fitness, importance of physical activity, and social support and exercise participation across the trial were used as correlates of positive and negative feeling states. Psychological responses to physical activity were assessed on a bimonthly basis across the trial. Latent growth curve analyses indicated significant growth in positive well-being over the 6-month period, with increases reaching a threshold at 4 months. Self-efficacy was inversely related to change in positive well-being across the trial. Frequency of activity and increases in well-being over the trial were significant predictors of self-efficacy at program termination. Findings suggest the social cognitive context of the exercise experience may have influence on exercise-related well-being.