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- Creators: Holzapfel, Simon
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Resource Type: Text
Description
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Assisted Cycle Therapy (ACT) on self-efficacy and exercise perception in older adults with Down syndrome (DS) after a three times a week for 8 weeks intervention. Thirteen participants were in the ACT group in which a motor assisted their cycling to be performed at least 30% faster than voluntary cycling (VC), 11 participants were in the voluntary cycling group and two participants were in the no cycling (NC) group. The results showed that both exercise groups (i.e., ACT and VC) improved in their self-efficacy after the 8 week intervention. In addition, exercise perception improved following ACT and not VC or NC. Our results are discussed with respect to their future implications for exercise in the DS population. It might be that the yielded results were due to differences in effort required by each intervention group as well as the neurotrophic factors that occur when muscle contractions create synaptic connections resulting in improvement in cognition and feelings of satisfaction. In the future, research should focus on the psychological factors such as social accountability and peer interaction as they relate to ACT and physical activity in person's with DS.
ContributorsTucker, Kori Ann (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Arnold, Nathaniel (Committee member) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The purpose of this study, originally, was to contribute to the completion of a meta-analysis conducted by Mara Wierstra from the University of Virginia. Wierstra had requested individual participant data from two separate studies conducted in our lab: "Acute bouts of assisted cycling improves cognitive and upper extremity movement functions in adolescents with Down syndrome" and "Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) improves inhibition in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder." From the data requested, the participants were required to complete three separate tests (i.e., Tower of London, Trail Making Task and the Stroop Test). After compiling the data and sending it to her, we decided to conduct a small meta-analysis of our own, drawing connecting conclusions from the data from the two studies. We concluded that observationally our data suggest an advantage for ACT over voluntary cycling and no cycling across two separate populations (i.e., Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome), and across different measures of executive function (i.e., Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, and Tower of London). The data suggest that the ACT interventions may promote the upregulation of neurotropic factors leading to neurogenesis in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.
ContributorsParker, Cade Joseph (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Based on the findings from previous studies and research, social media use and psychological issues among minors are increasing overtime. However, there are still questions about whether or not these factors are related to one another. The goal of my study is to better understand the relationship between social media use and the psychological issues among minors by analyzing their self-esteem, self-efficacy, social anxiety, locus of control, and peer pressure. My research examined minors' time spent on social media, their influencer engagement, and the social media platforms they use and how these factors impact the constructs of interest: self-esteem, self-efficacy, social anxiety, locus of control, and peer pressure. My study was conducted by distributing a survey to minors (ages 12-17) that asked about their social media use and habits. Based on my findings, I concluded that minors that use a large number of social media platforms have lower self-esteem and high levels of peer pressure, the more frequently a minor uses social media, the higher their self-esteem is, and the more social media influencers that the minor is following, the lower their self-efficacy is. Additionally, using certain social media platforms, following certain types of influencers, and participating in certain engagement behaviors had different effects on the minor’s self-esteem, self-efficacy, social anxiety, locus of control, and peer pressure. An implication from my results is that social media can be a positive outlet for a minor's mental health and it can impact a minor positively or negatively depending on how they use it.
ContributorsSmaw, Rebekah (Author) / Dong, Xiaodan (Thesis director) / Gray, Nancy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2022-05