EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY

Over the past few decades, physical activity has come to be seen as more than a way to improve physical fitness. It is now widely recognised as a modifiable factor that shapes cognition, emotion, mental health and quality of life across the lifespan. Exercise psychology has grown alongside this shift into a scientific discipline of its own. It asks why people start, maintain or abandon exercise, and how exercise in turn changes the way they think, feel and function. Exercise Psychology / Egzersiz Psikolojisi was written to give a complete and up-to-date account of this field, from its foundations to its newest directions. Interest in the topic keeps growing, yet the literature available to students, researchers and practitioners, especially in Turkish, remains fragmented. Most existing sources treat exercise psychology as part of performance-oriented sport psychology. Others cover single constructs such as motivation or anxiety in isolation, or rely on translations that do not reflect the region’s academic and applied context. Few works bring together in one framework the theoretical models of exercise behaviour, the cognitive and emotional effects of exercise, its role in mental health and well-being, the needs of particular populations, and the fast-growing field of digital and integrative approaches. This book was prepared to address that gap and to connect theory, empirical evidence and practice. The book has twenty chapters in five sections. Section 1 sets out the disciplinary foundations, historical development and main theoretical models of exercise psychology, along with the psychological mechanisms behind exercise behaviour, motivation, self-determination and goal setting. Section 2 covers the cognitive and emotional effects of exercise, including attention, memory, executive functions, stress responses, emotion regulation, anxiety, depression and mood. Section 3 turns to psychological outcomes: well-being, mental health, quality of life, self-efficacy, resilience, and the risks of burnout and overtraining. Section 4 looks at children and adolescents, older adults, and people with chronic disease or disability. Section 5 covers new directions, including digital technologies and wearable devices for maintaining exercise behaviour, the psychological profiles of elite and recreational athletes, and mindfulness- and body-awareness-based integrative approaches. What sets this book apart is its integrative, lifespan-oriented and population-sensitive approach. Each chapter is grounded in current evidence and closes with implications for research and practice. Abstracts and keywords are given in both English and Turkish, which makes the content accessible and citable for both national and international readers. The book is also the product of an international editorial collaboration and authors from many universities, and that range of expertise is reflected in its content. The book is written for undergraduate and graduate students in sport sciences, psychology, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and the health sciences. It is also meant for academics and researchers working on physical activity and mental health, and for coaches, exercise specialists, physical education teachers, clinical psychologists, physicians and other health professionals who design or prescribe exercise programmes. We hope it serves as a reference text for teaching, a starting point for new research questions, and an evidence-based guide for promoting mental health through exercise in clinical and community settings. We sincerely thank the section editors and chapter authors for their careful scholarly work, and the reviewers and the Türkiye Klinikleri publishing team for their support at every stage. Editors Morteza TAHERİ MD, Professor Levent CEYLAN MD, Associate Professor