A Comparison of Exercise Beliefs to Same-day Exercise Behavior
Condition: Exercise
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Regular aerobic exercise is associated with reduced risk of multiple cancers, yet the
      majority of adults are inactive. Across health behavior theories, the expectations people
      have about the outcomes of exercise influence their decision to exercise. Extending prior
      work, a fine-grained analysis of the relationship between perceived outcomes and daily
      exercise behavior will be achieved using ecological momentary assessment methods to measure
      perceived outcomes, and accelerometry to measure exercise objectively. The results of this
      research will inform exercise promotion efforts by determining how perceptions and temporal
      factors interact to predict exercise behavior.
    

Detailed description: 
      There is strong evidence for an association between regular physical activity and reduced
      risk for cancers of the breast and colon. The majority of adults do not engage in enough
      physical activity. Motivating adults to exercise is critical to cancer prevention efforts.
      However, additional work is needed to improve the theoretical frameworks applied to exercise
      promotion. The most often cited theories of health promotion include the outcomes of a target
      behavior as important determinants. The perceptions people have about the outcomes of
      exercise, and more generally attitudes about exercise, are associated with exercise
      participation. Conceptualizations of perceived outcomes are categorized by whether they are
      instrumental (i.e. utility-based) or affective (i.e. feeling-based) in nature. Recent efforts
      to compare the relative predictive power of instrumental and affective attitudes suggest that
      affective attitudes may better predict exercise behavior. Aim 1 of this proposal seeks to
      compare the relative influence of instrumental versus affective attitudes on exercise
      behavior. Another distinction can be made between perceptions that are held temporally
      proximal versus distal to exercise behavior. In the vast majority of relevant research in the
      exercise field, perceptions are assessed and then future exercise behavior is assessed months
      later via self-report. However, day to day perceptions and exercise behavior is largely
      unknown. The temporal distance of perceptions from the decision to exercise can be
      significantly shortened using ecological momentary assessments. Aim 2 of this proposal seeks
      to compare the relative predictive power of temporally distal versus proximal perceptions on
      exercise behavior. Finally, aim 3 will examine the interaction between instrumental/affective
      and temporally proximal/distal attitudes for predicting exercise behavior. The proposed
      research seeks to contribute to cancer prevention efforts by examining underlying perceptions
      that motivate the day to day decision to exercise. In particular, technological advances in
      mobile platforms to deliver interventions to people wherever they are requires better support
      for how to apply these methods. Using theory-based, empirically supported concepts, this
      longitudinal study will follow previously inactive adults over 12 weeks using electronic
      diaries to measure their perceptions and exercise behavior change while they receive an
      exercise intervention. This study will provide a fine-grained examination of the determinants
      of exercise targeted in exercise promotion interventions. The results will inform future
      efforts to promote exercise using mobile technologies by determining what types of beliefs
      (instrumental/affective) and what times (temporal proximity to behavior) are most critical
      times to intervene.
    

Intervention name(s): Exercise Promotion
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Evidence-based techniques (goal-setting, reduced barriers) for increasing exercise behavior
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Attitudes; Ecological momentary assessment