Within-person examination of the exercise intention-behavior gap among women in midlife with elevated cardiovascular disease risk.

Engaging in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) is important for protecting cardiovascular health among women in midlife (i.e., ages 40-60), particularly if they have already developed conditions that increase their risk for cardiovascular disease (e.g., hypertension). Although the gap between MVPA intentions and behavior is well documented in other populations, little is known about the intention-behavior gap in this at-risk group - particularly as it plays a role in daily life. The present study employed an ecological momentary assessment design to examine the relation between women's MVPA intentions and behavior in the subsequent 3 hours, as well as momentary moderators of this relation (i.e., affective states and body satisfaction). Surveys sent to women's smartphones 5 times per day for 10 days while they wore ActiGraph GT3X waistband accelerometers. Women achieved their exercise intentions at only 13% of occasions on which they set intentions. Although the most common intended exercise was walking, women engaged in more minutes of MVPA after setting intentions to do yoga or Pilates than any other type of exercise (sr = 0.25). Multilevel models showed a modest within-person relation between minutes of intended MVPA and observed MVPA in the next 3 hours (sr = 0.20). This relation was moderated within-person by the reported extent of positive affect (particularly contentment) and body satisfaction (srs = 0.35 and 0.28, respectively). Findings extend knowledge about the physical activity intention-behavior gap to an at-risk population of women and identify positive affect and body satisfaction as potential contextual influences for this group, which could inform improvements to existing interventions (e.g., delivering intervention content at times with lower-than-usual body satisfaction).

Seasons, weather, and device-measured movement behaviors: a scoping review from 2006 to 2020.

BACKGROUND: This scoping review summarized research on (a) seasonal differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior, and (b) specific weather indices associated with those behaviors. METHODS: PubMed, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus were searched to identify relevant studies. After identifying and screening 1459 articles, data were extracted from 110 articles with 118,189 participants from 30 countries (almost exclusively high-income countries) on five continents. RESULTS: Both physical activity volume and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were greater in summer than winter. Sedentary behavior was greater in winter than either spring or summer, and insufficient evidence existed to draw conclusions about seasonal differences in light physical activity. Physical activity volume and MVPA duration were positively associated with both the photoperiod and temperature, and negatively associated with precipitation. Sedentary behavior was negatively associated with photoperiod and positively associated with precipitation. Insufficient evidence existed to draw conclusions about light physical activity and specific weather indices. Many weather indices have been neglected in this literature (e.g., air quality, barometric pressure, cloud coverage, humidity, snow, visibility, windchill). CONCLUSIONS: The natural environment can influence health by facilitating or inhibiting physical activity. Behavioral interventions should be sensitive to potential weather impacts. Extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change may compromise health-enhancing physical activity in the short term and, over longer periods of time, stimulate human migration in search of more suitable environmental niches.

Studying Movement-Related Behavioral Maintenance and Adoption in Real Time: Protocol for an Intensive Ecological Momentary Assessment Study Among Older Adults.

BACKGROUND: Older adults struggle to maintain newly initiated levels of physical activity (PA) or sedentary behavior (SB) and often regress to baseline levels over time. This is partly because health behavior theories that inform interventions rarely address how the changing contexts of daily life influence the processes regulating PA and SB or how those processes differ across the behavior change continuum. Few studies have focused on motivational processes that regulate the dynamic nature of PA and SB adoption and maintenance on microtimescales (ie, across minutes, hours, or days). OBJECTIVE: The overarching goal of Project Studying Maintenance and Adoption in Real Time (SMART) is to determine the motivational processes that regulate behavioral adoption versus maintenance over microtimescales, using a dual process framework combined with ecological momentary assessment and sensor-based monitoring of behavior. This paper describes the recruitment, enrollment, data collection, and analytics protocols for Project SMART. METHODS: In Project SMART, older adults engaging in at least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA per week complete 3 data collection periods over 1 year, with each data collection period lasting 14 days. Across each data collection period, participants wear an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer (ActiGraph, LLC) on their nondominant waist and an ActivPAL micro4 accelerometer (PAL Technologies, Ltd) on their anterior thigh to measure PA and SB, respectively. Ecological momentary assessment questionnaires are randomly delivered via smartphone 10 times per day on 4 selected days in each data collection period and assess reflective processes (eg, evaluating one's efficacy and exerting self-control) and reactive processes (eg, contextual cues) within the dual process framework. At the beginning and end of each data collection period, participants complete a computer-based questionnaire to learn more about their typical motivation for PA and SB, physical and mental health, and life events over the course of the study. RESULTS: Recruitment and enrollment began in January 2021; enrollment in the first data collection period was completed by February 2022; and all participants completed their second and third data collection by July 2022 and December 2022, respectively. Data were collected from 202 older adults during the first data collection period, with approximate retention rates of 90.1% (n=182) during the second data collection period and 88.1% (n=178) during the third data collection period. Multilevel models and mixed-effects location scale modeling will be used to evaluate the study aims. CONCLUSIONS: Project SMART seeks to predict and model the adoption and maintenance of optimal levels of PA and SB among older adults. In turn, this will inform the future delivery of personalized intervention content under conditions where the content will be most effective to promote sustained behavior change among older adults. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/47320.

Associations Between Social Cognitive Determinants and Movement-Related Behaviors in Studies Using Ecological Momentary Assessment Methods: Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: The social cognitive framework is a long-standing framework within physical activity promotion literature to explain and predict movement-related behaviors. However, applications of the social cognitive framework to explain and predict movement-related behaviors have typically examined the relationships between determinants and behavior across macrotimescales (eg, weeks and months). There is more recent evidence suggesting that movement-related behaviors and their social cognitive determinants (eg, self-efficacy and intentions) change across microtimescales (eg, hours and days). Therefore, efforts have been devoted to examining the relationship between social cognitive determinants and movement-related behaviors across microtimescales. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a growing methodology that can capture movement-related behaviors and social cognitive determinants as they change across microtimescales. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review was to summarize evidence from EMA studies examining associations between social cognitive determinants and movement-related behaviors (ie, physical activity and sedentary behavior). METHODS: Studies were included if they quantitatively tested such an association at the momentary or day level and excluded if they were an active intervention. Using keyword searches, articles were identified across the PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and PsycINFO databases. Articles were first assessed through abstract and title screening followed by full-text review. Each article was screened independently by 2 reviewers. For eligible articles, data regarding study design, associations between social cognitive determinants and movement-related behaviors, and study quality (ie, Methodological Quality Questionnaire and Checklist for Reporting Ecological Momentary Assessment Studies) were extracted. At least 4 articles were required to draw a conclusion regarding the overall associations between a social cognitive determinant and movement-related behavior. For the social cognitive determinants in which a conclusion regarding an overall association could be drawn, 60% of the articles needed to document a similar association (ie, positive, negative, or null) to conclude that the association existed in a particular direction. RESULTS: A total of 24 articles including 1891 participants were eligible for the review. At the day level, intentions and self-efficacy were positively associated with physical activity. No other associations could be determined because of conflicting findings or the small number of studies investigating associations. CONCLUSIONS: Future research would benefit from validating EMA assessments of social cognitive determinants and systematically investigating associations across different operationalizations of key constructs. Despite the only recent emergence of EMA to understand social cognitive determinants of movement-related behaviors, the findings indicate that daily intentions and self-efficacy play an important role in regulating physical activity in everyday life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42022328500; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=328500.

A systematic review of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and substance use in adolescents and emerging adults.

The transition from adolescence into emerging adulthood is marked by changes in both physical activity and substance use. This systematic review characterized associations between movement behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behavior) and frequently used substances (alcohol, cannabis) among adolescents and emerging adults to inform lifestyle interventions that target multiple behavior change outcomes. This systematic review was guided by PRISMA. Electronic databases of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science were searched from inception through June 25, 2019. The search was designed to identify empirical studies reporting an association between physical activity or sedentary behavior and alcohol or cannabis, with search criteria determining eligibility based on several sampling characteristics (e.g., participants under 25 years of age). After identifying and screening 5,610 studies, data were extracted from 97 studies. Physical activity was positively associated with alcohol use among emerging adults, but the literature was mixed among adolescents. Sedentary behavior was positively associated with alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents, but evidence was limited among emerging adults. Self-report measures were used in all but one study to assess these behaviors. Physical activity is linked to greater alcohol use among emerging adults. Whereas existing studies demonstrate that sedentary behavior might serve as a risk marker for alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents, additional primary research is needed to explore these associations in emerging adults. Future work should also use device-based measures to account for timing of and contextual features surrounding activity and substance use in these populations.