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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02615821

Mental Contrasting Physical Activity Study

Given the numerous physical and psychological benefits of engaging in regular physical activity (Biddle & Ekkekakis, 2005; Warburton et al., 2007) and the decrease in students' physical activity levels during the transition from high school to university (Bray & Born, 2010) it is important for researchers to develop time-and-cost-effective interventions to prevent this drop in physical activity. Intervention research shows mental contrasting (a goal setting strategy) can be taught in a cost-and-time-effective way in order to increase physical activity (Oettingen, 2012). Researchers have also found that individuals who consider the emotional effects of physical activity are more likely to be physically active than those who consider the health-related effects (Rhodes et al., 2009). The purpose of this research is to combine these two approaches to develop and evaluate a novel mental contrasting intervention to increase physical activity among a sample of undergraduate students.

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Key information

Conditions

Exercise Attitude to Health Behavior Goals Motivation Motor Activity

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Psychology of Exercise, Health, and Physical Activity Laboratory, University of British Columbia

Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z1, Canada

About this study

The transition from high school to university is a vulnerable period for discontinuing regular physical activity, which can have implications for individuals' physical and psychological health (Bray & Born, 2010). Accordingly, it is imperative to find and implement cost and time-effective interventions to mitigate the consequences of this transition. Mental contrasting is a goal-setting strategy that involves imagining the greatest outcome associated with achievement of a desired future goal while considering the aspects of one's present situation that may serve as obstacles for attaining that same goal (Oettingen & Gollwitzer, 2010). Intervention research has shown that mental contrasting can be taught as a metacognitive strategy in a cost- and time-effective way, affecting numerous health behaviours including physical activity (Oettingen, 2012). Drawing from diverse theoretical perspectives (e.g., Bechara, 2005; Lawton, Conner, & McEachan, 2009; Williams, 2010), recent meta-analytic evidence suggests that affective judgements (e.g., enjoyable-unenjoyable) exert greater influence on physical activity behaviors than health-related instrumental judgements (e.g., useful-useless; Rhodes, Fiala, & Conner, 2009). Nevertheless, research has yet to utilize mental contrasting as a means of targeting affective judgements, through intervention, in order to bolster physical activity promotion efforts. This research will examine how an affective mental contrasting intervention will change university students' affective judgements in comparison to instrumental mental contrasting and standard mental contrasting comparison conditions, and the subsequent impact of these changes on physical activity behaviour.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Individuals will be eligible to participate if they are female, inactive (i.e., engage in moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity for more than 30 minutes, less than three times a week), studying for an undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia, and are able to read and converse in English.

Exclusion criteria

  • Participants will be excluded if they have any self-reported physical health conditions using the online version of the PAR-Q+ (http://eparmedx.com/?page_id=75) that would restrict them from increasing their physical activity behaviours at the time of the intervention.

Treatment and study plan

Mental Contrasting

Behavioral

n the mental contrasting activity participants will be asked by the researcher to consider the best outcome associated with engaging in physical activity, as well as the obstacles they may encounter while completing the activity. The first question will ask participants to name the most positive outcome of realizing their goal (e.g., feeling more awake during classes; weight loss). The second question will ask participants to name the most critical obstacle (e.g., feeling tired; rain) to reaching their goal.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change is accelerometry measured moderate-vigorous physical activity from baseline

    Time frame: One week immediately following the intervention

    Actigraph accelerometers will measure daily activities. A standard 7-day accelerometry monitoring protocol will be used. Participants will also complete three one-week physical activity logs corresponding to the three accelerometry periods. In these logs, participants will record the time the monitor is on and off, in addition to recording all activities performed with or without the monitor.

  2. Change is accelerometry measured moderate-vigorous physical activity from baseline

    Time frame: Four-week follow-up

    Actigraph accelerometers will measure daily activities. A standard 7-day accelerometry monitoring protocol will be used. Participants will also complete three one-week physical activity logs corresponding to the three accelerometry periods. In these logs, participants will record the time the monitor is on and off, in addition to recording all activities performed with or without the monitor.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in Godin's Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ)

    Time frame: Change between baseline and four-week follow-up

    Participants will report the typical number of minutes per week they engaged in mild, moderate, and vigorous physical activity. As per the protocol for scoring the GLTEQ, physical activity is transformed into MET hours by multiplying hours of engagement in mild physical activity by 2, moderate activity by 4, and vigorous physical activity by 7, and then summing these values to provide an estimate of MET hours/week for each of the two time points assessed.

  2. Change is Affective and Instrumental Physical Activity Judgements

    Time frame: Changes between baseline, the week immediately following the intervention, and a four-week follow-up.

    Instrumental and affective judgements towards participants' physical activity goal will be measured using semantic differential scales (Ajzen, 2002). Five items will be used to tap instrumental judgements (e.g. 'For me, engaging in moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week for the next 6 weeks would be': useless-useful), and five items will be used to tap affective judgements (e.g. 'For me, engaging in moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity for at least 150 minutes a week for the next 6 weeks would be': unenjoyable-enjoyable). Each adjective pair will be rated on a 7-point unipolar scale (1-7) and a mean score will be computed for instrumental and affective subscales respectively.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of British Columbia

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2015
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Nov 26, 2015
Registry last updated
Nov 26, 2015

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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