Racial differences in physical activity engagement, barriers, and enjoyment during weight loss.

OBJECTIVE: Aiming to identify potential intervention targets to achieve more equitable outcomes from behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs, the current study examined whether Black and White individuals experienced similar increases in physical activity (PA) engagement, perceived PA barriers, and PA enjoyment during an 18-month BWL program. METHOD: Adults (N = 290) enrolled in an 18-month BWL program from 2014 to 2016 completed accelerometer-based measurements of moderate-to-vigorous PA and self-reported measures of PA barriers and enjoyment at months 0, 6, 12, and 18. RESULTS: Black participants had significantly fewer minutes of PA than White participants at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months. Black participants reported fewer barriers to PA than White participants at 0 and 6 months but not at 12 or 18 months. They also reported higher PA enjoyment than White participants at 0 and 6 months but not at 12 or 18 months. Furthermore, whereas White participants had a significant reduction in PA barriers and an increase in PA behavior overtime, Black participants did not. There was no interaction between race and time on PA enjoyment. CONCLUSIONS: Traditional BWL interventions may be ineffective for promoting PA among Black participants and may not appropriately address the unique PA barriers that Black participants experience. An improved understanding of differences in PA behaviors during BWL among Black and White individuals could help delineate why Black participants do not appear to benefit as much as White participants from traditional BWL programs and inform intervention strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Shifting behavioral intervention research to virtual methods: Challenges and solutions in practice, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Behavioral medicine researchers have rapidly adapted study procedures and interventions to telehealth modalities during the pandemic. We rely heavily on telehealth research methods to avoid study delays and mitigate risk to chronically ill patients our studies aim to support. We implemented methods to virtually recruit, enroll, and retain patients and their families on clinical trials, and virtually deliver study interventions. These adaptations are likely to become permanent amid ongoing virus variants and surges in cases. However, little has been written about how remote methods apply in practice. This paper documents these processes to maximize efficiency across our research studies and systems and highlights the strengths and challenges of transitioning our research protocols to telehealth. We outline solutions to using remote methods across the entire span of the research process, including study recruitment, data collection, and intervention delivery. We offer insight into the implications of these transitions on research staff and interventionists. In providing a transparent review of the advantages and challenges of implementing remote methods, we encourage discourse around remote methods implementation, share the lessons we learned, and inform the design of future trials. Further research is needed to review the clinical feasibility and acceptability of these procedures.