Mobile applications (apps) have potential for helping people increase their physical activity, but little is known about the behavior change techniques marketed in these apps. The aim of this study was to characterize the behavior change techniques represented in online descriptions of top-ranked apps for physical activity. Top-ranked apps (n=167) were identified on August 28, 2013, and coded using the Coventry, Aberdeen and London-Revised (CALO-RE) taxonomy of behavior change techniques during the following month. Analyses were conducted during 2013. Most descriptions of apps incorporated fewer than four behavior change techniques. The most common techniques involved providing instruction on how to perform exercises, modeling how to perform exercises, providing feedback on performance, goal-setting for physical activity, and planning social support/change. A latent class analysis revealed the existence of two types of apps, educational and motivational, based on their configurations of behavior change techniques. Behavior change techniques are not widely marketed in contemporary physical activity apps. Based on the available descriptions and functions of the observed techniques in contemporary health behavior theories, people may need multiple apps to initiate and maintain behavior change. This audit provides a starting point for scientists, developers, clinicians, and consumers to evaluate and enhance apps in this market.

The Performance Failure Appraisal Inventory (PFAI) is a multidimensional measure of cognitive-motivational-relational appraisals associated with fear of failure (FF). College students ( N = 544) completed the PFAI and a variety of other measures. Calibration sample analyses reduced the PFAI to 25 items measuring five appraisals in a higher-order factor structure that demonstrated tight cross-validity in the second half of the sample. The five aversive consequences of failure assessed by the PFAI included (a) experiencing shame and embarrassment, (b) devaluing one's self-estimate, (c) having an uncertain future, (d) important others losing interest, and (e) upsetting important others. A five-item short form also demonstrated tight cross-validity. FF was associated with (a) high levels of worry, somatic anxiety, cognitive disruption, and sport anxiety, and (b) low levels of optimism. General FF was unrelated to either perceived competence or fear of success.

Achievement goals in sport have traditionally been defined according to the definition of competence alone (i.e., mastery/task, performance/ego). Emerging research and theory from the academic domain indicates that the utility of the achievement goal construct can be enhanced when the valence (i.e., approach, avoidance) of goals is also considered in conjunction with the definition of competence. The present study was designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of scores for mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals from a measure of achievement goals in sport. The a priori 2 × 2 model fit the data better than any of the plausible alternative models. In a series of longitudinal factorial invariance and latent growth curve analyses, scores for the four subscales exhibited structural invariance, and both differential and latent mean stability over a 21-day period. Achievement goal scores conformed to theoretical predictions regarding their relationship with fear-of-failure scores. The AGQ-S would be an appropriate instrument for future research using the 2 × 2 model of achievement goals in sport, particularly for experimental/intervention research on change processes associated with achievement goals.

The Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI) is a recently developed multidimensional inventory for the assessment of pathological narcissism. The authors describe and report the results of two studies that investigate the higher order factor structure and gender invariance of the PNI. The results of the first study indicate that the PNI has a higher order factor structure that conforms to the theoretical structure of pathological narcissism with one factor representing narcissistic grandiosity and the other capturing narcissistic vulnerability. These results uniquely place the PNI as the only measure to broadly assess the two phenotypic themes of pathological narcissism. In the second study, results from tests of measurement invariance indicate that the PNI performs similarly in large samples of men (n = 488) and women (n = 495). These results further establish the psychometric properties of the PNI and suggest that it is well suited for the assessment of pathological narcissism.

Background: This scoping review summarized research on (a) seasonal differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior, and (b) specific weather indices associated with those behaviors.Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus were searched to identify relevant studies. After identifying and screening 1459 articles, data were extracted from 110 articles with 118,189 participants from 30 countries (almost exclusively high-income countries) on five continents.Results: Both physical activity volume and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were greater in summer than winter. Sedentary behavior was greater in winter than either spring or summer, and insufficient evidence existed to draw conclusions about seasonal differences in light physical activity. Physical activity volume and MVPA duration were positively associated with both the photoperiod and temperature, and negatively associated with precipitation. Sedentary behavior was negatively associated with photoperiod and positively associated with precipitation. Insufficient evidence existed to draw conclusions about light physical activity and specific weather indices. Many weather indices have been neglected in this literature (e.g., air quality, barometric pressure, cloud coverage, humidity, snow, visibility, windchill).Conclusions: The natural environment can influence health by facilitating or inhibiting physical activity. Behavioral interventions should be sensitive to potential weather impacts. Extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change may compromise health-enhancing physical activity in the short term and, over longer periods of time, stimulate human migration in search of more suitable environmental niches.

The hierarchical model of achievement motivation proposes that, in addition to need achievement, fear of failure (FF) energizes achievement behaviour and predisposes individuals to adopt particular types of achievement goals. An impressive volume of cross-sectional support for this model has emerged, however, the causal assumptions of the model have never been tested. College students (N=356) enrolled in physical activity classes completed multidimensional measures of FF and achievement goals on four occasions in a 3-week interval. FF was positively related to mastery-avoidance (MAv), performance-approach (PAp), and performance-avoidance (PAv) achievement goals. FF scores predicted residualized change in MAv and PAv (but not MAp or PAp) goal scores across occasions. Goal scores did not reliably predict residualized change in FF scores across occasions. Results were consistent with the hierarchical model of achievement motivation and suggest that FF may indeed have a causal influence on achievement goals.