Physical Activity in Women: Effects of a Self-Regulation Intervention
published online 03 November 2008.
Background
A physically active lifestyle during midlife is critical to the maintenance of high physical functioning. This study tested whether an intervention that combined information with cognitive–behavioral strategies had a better effect on women's physical activity than an information-only intervention.
Design
A 4-month longitudinal RCT comparing two brief interventions was conducted between July 2003 and September 2004. Analyses were completed in June 2008.
Setting and participants
256 women aged 30–50 years in a large metropolitan area in Germany.
Intervention
The study compared a health information intervention with an information + self-regulation intervention. All participants received the same information intervention; participants in the information + self-regulation group additionally learned a technique that integrates mental contrasting with implementation intentions.
Main outcome measures
Self-reported minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week.
Results
Participants in the information + self-regulation group were twice as physically active (i.e., nearly 1 hour more per week) as participants in the information group. This difference appeared as early as the first week after intervention and was maintained over the course of the 4 months. Participants in the information group slightly increased their baseline physical activity after intervention.
Conclusions
Women who learned a self-regulation technique during an information session were substantially more active than women who participated in only the information session. The self-regulation technique should be tested further as a tool for increasing the impact of interventions on behavioral change.
aDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
bDepartment of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York
cDepartment of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
dDepartment of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Gertraud Stadler, PhD, Columbia University, Psychology Department, 200D Schermerhorn Hall, 1190 Amsterdam Avenue, New York NY 10027
The full text of this article is available via AJPM Online at www.ajpm-online.net; 1 unit of Category-1 CME credit is also available, with details on the website.
ABSTRACT