Thirty students (mean age = 18 ± 0.5 years) completed self-report (Self-Control Scale) and objective (isometric handgrip squeeze performance) measures of self-control, provided their exercise and academic (study/schoolwork) plans for the next month, and then logged these behaviors over the subsequent 4-week period. Trait self-control predicted exercise and academic behavior. Handgrip squeeze performance predicted academic behavior and adherence to academic plans. Further, regression analysis revealed that trait self-control and handgrip performance explained significant variance in academic behavior. These findings provide a new understanding of how different self-control measures can be used to predict first-year students’ participation in, and adherence to, exercise and academic behaviors concurrently.
BaumSPayeaK (2004) The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society. Washington, DC: College Board.
2.
BaumanAESallisJFDzewaltowskiDA. (2002) Toward a better understanding of the influences on physical activity: The role of determinants, correlates, causal variables, mediators, moderators, and confounders. American Journal of Preventive Medicine23(2): 5–14.
3.
BaumeisterRF (2014) Self-regulation, ego depletion, and inhibition. Neuropsychologia65: 313–319.
4.
BaumeisterRFBratslavskyEMuravenM. (1998) Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology74(5): 1252–1265.
5.
BaumeisterRFHeathertonTFTiceDM (1994) Losing Control: How and Why People Fail at Self-Regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
6.
BorgG (1998) Borg’s Perceived Exertion and Pain Scales. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
7.
BraySR (2007) Self-efficacy for coping with barriers helps students stay physically active during transition to their first year at a university. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport78(2): 61–70.
8.
BraySRBeauchampMRLatimerAE. (2011) Effects of a print-mediated intervention on physical activity during transition to the first year of university. Behavioral Medicine37(2): 60–69.
9.
BraySRGrahamJDSavillePD (2015) Self-control training leads to enhanced cardiovascular exercise performance. Journal of Sports Sciences33(5): 534–543.
10.
BraySRMartin GinisKAHicksAL. (2008) Effects of self-regulatory strength depletion on muscular performance and EMG activation. Psychophysiology45(2): 337–343.
11.
BrownDMBraySR (2015) Isometric exercise and cognitive function: An investigation of acute dose–response effects during submaximal fatiguing contractions. Journal of Sports Sciences33(5): 487–497.
12.
CohenJ (1992) A power primer. Psychological Bulletin112(1): 155–159.
13.
De RidderDTLensvelt-MuldersGFinkenauerC. (2012) Taking stock of self-control a meta-analysis of How trait self-control relates to a wide range of behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Review16(1): 76–99.
14.
FieldAP (2013) Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS. London: SAGE.
15.
FinnieRQiuT (2011) Moving through, moving on: Persistence in postsecondary education in Atlantic Canada, evidence from the PSIS. Statistics Canada. Available at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-595-m/81-595-m2009072-eng.htm (accessed 12 June 2014).
16.
FisherRJKatzJE (2000) Social-desirability bias and the validity of self-reported values. Psychology and Marketing17(2): 105–120.
17.
HaggerSWoodCStiffC. (2010) Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin136(4): 495–525.
18.
HallPAFongGT (2007) Temporal self-regulation theory: A model for individual health behavior. Health Psychology Review1(1): 6–52.
JungerMVan KampenM (2010) Cognitive ability and self-control in relation to dietary habits, physical activity and bodyweight in adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity7(22): 1–12.
21.
JungMEBrawleyLR (2013) Concurrent self-regulatory efficacy as a mediator of the goal: Exercise behaviour relationship. Journal of Health Psychology18(5): 601–611.
22.
KinnunenMISuihkoJHankonenN. (2012) Self-control is associated with physical activity and fitness among young males. Behavioral Medicine38(3): 83–89.
23.
KwanMYCairneyJFaulknerGE. (2012) Physical activity and other health-risk behaviors during the transition into early adulthood: A longitudinal cohort study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine42(1): 14–20.
24.
Martin GinisKABraySR (2010) Application of the limited strength model of self-regulation to understanding exercise effort, planning and adherence. Psychology and Health25(10): 1147–1160.
25.
MeichenbaumDTurkDC (1987) Facilitating Treatment Adherence: A Practitioner’s Guidebook. New York: Plenum Press.
26.
MuravenMTiceDMBaumeisterRF (1998) Self-control as limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology74(3): 774–789.
27.
PenedoFJDahnJR (2005) Exercise and well-being: A review of mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity. Current Opinion in Psychiatry18(2): 189–193.
28.
RamdassDZimmermanBJ (2011) Developing self-regulation skills: The important role of homework. Journal of Advanced Academics22(2): 194–218.
29.
RobothamDJulianC (2006) Stress and the higher education student: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Further and Higher Education2: 107–117.
30.
Santiago-RiveraABernsteinB (1996) Affiliation, achievement and life events: Contributions to stress appraisals in college men and women. Personality and Individual Differences21(3): 411–419.
31.
TangneyJPBaumeisterRFBooneAL (2004) High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality72: 271–322.
32.
US Department of Health and Human Services (1996) Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
33.
WarburtonDENicolCWBredinSS (2006) Health benefits of physical activity: The evidence. Canadian Medical Association Journal174(6): 801–809.
34.
WilkieCKuckuckS (1989) A longitudinal study of the effects of a freshman seminar. Journal of the Freshman Year Experience1: 7–16.
35.
ZierathJRHawleyJA (2004) Skeletal muscle fiber type: Influence on contractile and metabolic properties. PLoS Biology2(10): 1523–1527.
