Tailored Activity Goals - an Exercise Prescription Study
Condition: Physical Activity; Affect
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The primary goal of this study is to determine experimentally the relationship between
      affective response to exercise and future exercise behavior. A secondary goal is to examine
      potential mediators and moderators of this relationship, specifically four variables
      considered to contribute to the volitional control of exercise behavior - planning,
      attention, resource commitment, and affect regulation. An additional goal is to examine how
      symptoms of depression might influence the affective response to exercise, and the
      relationship between affective response to exercise and exercise behavior.
    

Detailed description: 
      The specific aims are as follows:

      Aim 1. The first aim is to determine the effectiveness of an experimental manipulation of
      individuals' affective response to a laboratory-supervised bout of exercise corresponding to
      a vigorous intensity (just below the ventilatory threshold), compared to a control condition
      that simply measures individuals' natural affective response to exercise. The investigators
      will specifically determine the effect of this manipulation on anticipated, experienced and
      remembered affective response to exercise.

      Aim 2. The second aim is to examine individuals' adherence to an exercise prescription over
      the course of one week that asks them to exercise daily on their own for twenty minutes at
      the same intensity (as indicated by a heart rate monitor) as the laboratory-supervised
      exercise session, and to determine whether adherence to this prescription is greater for
      those who expect exercise to lead to positive affect than those who expect exercise to lead
      to negative affect, as compared to a control condition.

      Aim 3. The third aim is to examine potential mediators and moderators of the relationship
      between anticipated affect and subsequent exercise behavior, including volitional control of
      exercise, affect regulation ability, and symptoms of depression.
    

Intervention name(s): Positive Affect Condition; Negative Affect Condition; Control Condition
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Participants read: "Most people exercising at this intensity say that it feels good, and that it makes them feel energized and more positive, and more relaxed afterwards. Thinking about your exercise prescription, please list the reasons or ways in which you, personally, might expect this exercise to lead to positive feelings, and what specifically about this exercise might make you, personally, feel good."; Participants read: "Most people exercising at this intensity say that it doesn't feel very good, and that it makes them feel tired and not so positive, and not very relaxed afterwards. Thinking about your exercise prescription, please list the reasons or ways in which you, personally, might expect this exercise to lead to negative feelings, and what specifically about this exercise might make you, personally, feel bad."; Participants receive no information about affective response
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Basic Science