Date on Honors Thesis

Spring 5-4-2026

Major

Exercise Science

Examining Committee Member

Dr. Lucas Morgan, Advisor

Examining Committee Member

Dr. Amelia Dodd, Committee Member

Examining Committee Member

Dr. Matthew Hermes, Committee Member

Abstract/Description

HEPs are an important part of therapeutic treatment because they allow for greater exercise stimulus than can be achieved from supervised exercise alone. 94.7% of physical therapists reported prescribing HEPs to their patients. However, patient adherence to these plans can be as low as 35%. Lack of HEP adherence likely leads to sub-optimal clinical outcomes in physical therapy patients. Self-efficacy is improved in patients by supplementing HEPs with instructional aids, especially in the form of videos instead of pictures or descriptions, because they act as a form of vicarious experience. It is possible that improving self-efficacy through vicarious experience could improve patient adherence to HEPs. The purpose of this study is to determine if one common mode of instructional aid elicits greater self-efficacy compared to the others. A survey containing three exercises of escalating difficulty (side lying hip abduction, squat, Romanian deadlift) presented in three different ways (description, two-stage picture, video) was sent through mass email to current undergraduate college students. In the survey, students evaluated their confidence in future performance, their feelings of intimidation, and their confidence in teaching for each exercise presented as each instructional mode. 75 students completed the survey. 94.7% (N=71) of participants had experience with at least one of the exercises used in the survey. 3x3x3 ANOVA revealed that descriptions elicited the least confidence (3.86 ± 0.83), pictures elicited moderate confidence (4.22 ± 0.68), and videos elicited the most confidence (4.44 ± 0.53) across all evaluative statements. This showed that instructional modes have a significant influence (p< 0.001, η⍴2= 0.320) on confidence levels. Furthermore, the SLHA confidence score (4.38 ± 0.50) and squat confidence score (4.34 ± 0.61) were significantly higher (p < 0.001, η⍴2 = 0.336) than the RDL confidence score (3.80 ± 0.92), showing that the complexity of exercise affects self-efficacy in that exercise. Videos likely elicit the most self-efficacy because they provide the most information regarding body positioning throughout the duration of the movement. Further research should be done to evaluate the effect of different instructional modes on HEP adherence in rehabilitative populations.

Download

Share

COinS