The Specification of a Computational Model of Physical Activity Habit.

The influence of habit on physical activity is computationally modeled as the aggregated influence of past behavioral choices a person makes in a given context. We hypothesize that the influence of habit on behavior can be enhanced through engagement of the target behavior in a particular context or weakened through engagement of alternative behaviors in that context.

Breaking the Habit? Identifying Discrete Dimensions of Sitting Automaticity and Their Responsiveness to a Sitting-Reduction Intervention.

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that sitting is activated automatically on exposure to associated environments, yet no study has yet sought to identify in what ways sitting may be automatic. METHOD: This study used data from a 12-month sitting-reduction intervention trial to explore discrete dimensions of sitting automaticity, and how these dimensions may be affected by an intervention. One hundred ninety-four office workers reported sitting automaticity at baseline, and 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months after receiving one of two sitting-reduction intervention variants. RESULTS: Principal component analysis extracted two automaticity components, corresponding to a lack of awareness and a lack of control. Scores on both automaticity scales decreased over time post-intervention, indicating that sitting became more mindful, though lack of awareness scores were consistently higher than lack of control scores. CONCLUSION: Attempts to break office workers' sitting habits should seek to enhance conscious awareness of alternatives to sitting and afford office workers a greater sense of control over whether they sit or stand.

Challenging assumptions underlying physical activity promotion for health care professionals in Australia: A data-prompted interview study.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Interventions targeting health care professionals' behaviours are assumed to support them in learning how to give behavioural advice to patients, but such assumptions are rarely examined. This study investigated whether key assumptions were held regarding the design and delivery of physical activity interventions among health care professionals in applied health care settings. This study was part of the 'Physical Activity Tailored intervention in Hospital Staff' randomised controlled trial of three variants of a web-based intervention. METHODS: We used data-prompted interviews to explore whether the interventions were delivered and operated as intended in health care professionals working in four hospitals in Western Australia (N = 25). Data were analysed using codebook thematic analysis. RESULTS: Five themes were constructed: (1) health care professionals' perceived role in changing patients' health behaviours; (2) work-related barriers to physical activity intervention adherence; (3) health care professionals' use of behaviour change techniques; (4) contamination between groups; and (5) perceptions of intervention tailoring. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention was not experienced by participants, nor did they implement the intervention guidance, in the way we expected. For example, not all health care professionals felt responsible for providing behaviour change advice, time and shift constraints were key barriers to intervention participation, and contamination effects were difficult to avoid. SO WHAT?: Our study challenges assumptions about how health care professionals respond to behaviour change advice and possible knock-on benefits for patients. Applying our learnings may improve the implementation of health promotion interventions in health care settings.

What would a trauma-informed workplace ideally look like in legal aid? A qualitative perspective from lawyers.

Lawyers experience disproportionately high levels of poor mental health outcomes compared to other professions. This persistent problem can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that current initiatives are not adequately addressing the impact of trauma (from clients and lawyers). The legal profession is yet to embrace trauma-informed practice in the same way other human services have. In this qualitative study, 6 lawyers from Legal Aid describe what trauma-informed practice would ideally look like in their workplace. Many of the recommendations made by the participants such as training for staff, reduction in workloads, mental health leave, supervision, reflective practice, and debriefing are echoed in the literature. However, participants added valuable details about what service provision for clients, and the role of managers in bringing about change. The study provides employers with practical strategies to implement trauma-informed practice and manage the impact of trauma on their lawyers.

Exploring the Interplay Between Message Format, Need for Cognition and Personal Relevance on Processing Messages About Physical Activity: a Two-Arm Randomized Experimental Trial.

BACKGROUND: According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, persuasion can occur via two different routes (the central route and peripheral route), with the route utilized dependent on factors associated with motivation and ability. This study aimed to explore the moderating role of need for cognition (NFC) and perceived relevance on the processing of physical activity messages designed to persuade via either the central route or the peripheral route. METHOD: Participants (N = 50) were randomized to receive messages optimized for central route processing or messages optimized for peripheral route processing. Eye-tracking devices were used to assess attention, which was the primary outcome. Message perceptions and the extent of persuasion (changes in physical activity determinants) were also assessed via self-report as secondary outcomes. Moderator effects were examined using interaction terms within mixed effects models and linear regression models. RESULTS: There were no detected interactions between condition and NFC for any of the study outcomes (all ps > .05). Main effects of personal relevance were observed for some self-report outcomes, with increased relevance associated with better processing outcomes. An interaction between need for cognition and personal relevance was observed for perceived behavioral control (p = 0.002); greater relevance was associated with greater perceived behavioral control for those with a higher need for cognition. CONCLUSION: Matching physical activity messages based on NFC may not increase intervention efficacy. Relevance of materials is associated with greater change in physical activity determinants and may be more so among those with a higher NFC.

Investigating Intraindividual Variability of Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Relations With Subsequent Physical Activity.

Heeding recent calls to capture dynamic variability of physical activity (PA) motivation within a self-determination theory framework, this study examined the extent to which psychological needs satisfaction in PA predicted subsequent PA, disaggregating within-person and between-persons data. University students (N = 89) wore an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer for 6 days and reported basic psychological needs satisfaction daily. Multilevel models examined whether competence, autonomy, and relatedness for the previous day's PA (>2,020 counts per minute) predicted the following day's minutes of PA (>2,020 counts per minute), controlling for previous-day PA. Participants who, on average, reported greater feelings of autonomy and competence tended to engage in more minutes of PA the following day. When participants reported feeling greater relatedness than what was typical for them, they tended to engage in more PA the following day. Psychological needs vary day to day, but how and to what extent they predict PA depends on the specific need.

Internal locus of control buffers the impact of daily stressors on Australian Farmers' well-being: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Farmers are prone to poor well-being and are at higher risks of suicide than the general population. The aim of this study was to understand whether the negative impact of daily stressors on Australian farmers' well-being could be buffered through a strong internal locus of control - a strong sense of control over what happens in life. METHODS: Australian farmers self-reported their well-being, daily stress, and locus of control. DESIGN: Cross-sectional via pen-and-paper survey. SETTING: Participants completed the surveys at the beginning of agricultural management training courses. PARTICIPANTS: Australian farmers (N = 129, M age = 39 ± 12 years, 54.7% male). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Internal and external locus of control, daily stress, and subjective well-being. RESULTS: More daily stressors were associated to poorer well-being, regardless of external locus of control; however, farmers with a stronger internal locus of control were buffered from the negative impacts of daily stressors. That is, daily stressors were not significantly associated with well-being for farmers with a strong internal locus of control. CONCLUSIONS: Internal locus of control may be a significant factor in supporting good well-being for farmers. Further research should investigate how to enhance internal locus of control amongst this population. It may be that interventions to enhance internal locus of control in farmers could improve their well-being and productivity, good outcomes for the individual farmers, and global society overall.

Bidirectional Relations Between Daily Stress and Sleep Among Black Emerging Adults.

BACKGROUND: Black adults experience higher levels of stress and more dysfunctional sleep patterns compared to their White peers, both of which may contribute to racial disparities in chronic health conditions. Dysfunctional sleep patterns are also more likely in emerging adults compared to other age groups. Daily stress-sleep relations in Black emerging adults are understudied. PURPOSE: This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and wrist-worn actigraphy to examine bidirectional associations between daily stress and sleep among Black emerging adults. METHODS: Black college freshmen (N = 50) completed an EMA protocol (i.e., five EMA prompts/day) and wore an accelerometer for 7 days. The first EMA prompt of each day assessed sleep duration and quality. All EMA prompts assessed stress. Wrist-worn actigraphy assessed nocturnal sleep duration, sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency, and waking after sleep onset. RESULTS: At the within-person level, stress experienced on a given day was not associated with any sleep metrics that night (p > .05). On evenings when actigraphy-based sleep duration was shorter (B = -0.02, p = .01) and self-reported sleep quality was poorer (B = -0.12, p = .02) than usual, stress was greater the following day. At the between-person level, negative bidirectional relations existed between stress and actigraphy-based waking after sleep onset (stress predicting sleep: B = -0.35, p = .02; sleep predicting stress: B = -0.27, p = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Among Black emerging adults, associations between daily sleep and stress vary at the between- and within-person level and are dependent upon the sleep metric assessed. Future research should compare these relations across different measures of stress and different racial/ethnic groups to better understand health disparities.

Habit Facilitates Actioning Sun Protective Behavior Intentions.

Skin cancer is highly burdensome, but preventable with regular engagement in sun protective behaviors. Despite modest effectiveness of sun-protective behavior promotional efforts thus far, rates of engagement in sun-protective behaviors remain low. More is needed to understand motivation for using sunscreen, wearing sun-protective clothing, and seeking shade. This study tested whether the links of intention and habit strength with behavior differed between sun-protective behaviors. It was hypothesized that sun protective behaviors would be predicted by both habit and intention and that intention-behavior associations would be weaker for people with stronger habits. Participants residing in Queensland, Australia (N = 203; 75.96% female; M age = 37.16 years, SD = 14.67) self-reported their intentions and habit strength about sun-protective behavior for the next 7 days. Participants were followed-up 7 days later to self-report their sun-protective behavior. Multilevel modeling, accounting for nesting of multiple behaviors within-person, revealed that habit moderated the intention strength - behavior association and this moderation effect did not differ as a function of which behavior was being predicted. People with strong or moderate habit strength tended to act in line with their intentions; however, for people with very weak habits (2 SD < M), there was less alignment between their intention and behavior. These findings suggest that habit plays a facilitative role in the implementation of strong sun protective behavior intentions. Interventions should consider how to encourage intention and habit to enhance sun-protective behaviors and reduce the burden of skin cancer from sun exposure.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2021.1903380 .

Positive Implicit Associations for Physical Activity Predict Physical Activity and Affective Responses During Exercise.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships of implicit associations and explicit evaluations with affective responses during an aerobic exercise session, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in adults. Fifty adults (70% women; median age = 31 years; 25th, 75th percentiles: 24.50, 40.50 years old; body mass index = 25.29 ± 4.97 kg/m2) not engaged in regular physical activity completed an implicit association test and a questionnaire of explicit evaluations and wore an accelerometer for 7 days. After the 7-day period, the participants performed 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Every 5 min, the affective response and the perception of effort were recorded. Participants who had more positive implicit associations toward physical activity (vs. sedentary behavior) reported higher affective responses during exercise and engaged in more moderate to vigorous physical activity. Encouraging pleasant physical activity may act to partially improve future physical activity through automatic motivational processes.

"If they can do it, I can do it": experiences of older women who engage in powerlifting training.

Older adults' participation in resistance training is low. Recent research suggests social aspects are important determinants of exercise engagement. In this study, 13 older women (50 years and older) were interviewed to examine their experiences of powerlifting training. Data were thematically analyzed revealing two main themes: Challenging Beliefs and Positive Social Influences. Peer advocates were essential for uptake, with social interactions in group resistance training, and having a skilled trainer, identified as important adherence factors. Strategies to improve resistance training uptake in older women could leverage off the experience of others and powerlifting training culture and practices.

The Discrepancy between Knowledge of Sleep Recommendations and the Actual Sleep Behaviour of Australian Adults.

Introduction: Inadequate sleep is a major public health concern, with large economic, health, and operational costs to Australia. Despite the implementation of public sleep health campaigns, approximately 40% of Australian adults do not obtain the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep. Thus, while people may know how much sleep is required, this knowledge may not be adequately translated to actual sleep behavior. Consequently, this study aims to examine the discrepancy between knowledge of sleep recommendations and self-reported sleep behaviors.Methods: A sample of 1265 Australian adults (54% female, aged 18-65) completed a phone interview as part of the 2017 National Social Survey and were asked questions about their knowledge of sleep guidelines and their actual sleep behavior. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with awareness of sleep recommendations and whether this corresponded with reported sleep duration.Results: The final sample size was 998. Although 94% of the sample were aware of current sleep recommendations, 23% of participants did not self-report regularly obtaining 7-9 h sleep per night. These participants were less likely to want to obtain more sleep, less likely to view sleep as a priority before stressful events, and less likely to self-report good health.Conclusion: Although a majority of the sample were aware of sleep recommendations, almost a quarter of the participants' behavior did not align with their knowledge. Future sleep health campaigns should consider options beyond education, including emphasis on practical strategies and modifiable lifestyle factors to assist individuals to obtain the recommended amount of sleep.

Breaking habits or breaking habitual behaviours? Old habits as a neglected factor in weight loss maintenance.

Maintaining weight loss requires long-term behaviour change. Theory and evidence around habitual behaviour - i.e., action triggered by impulses that are automatically activated upon exposure to cues, due to learned cue-action associations - can aid development of interventions to support weight loss maintenance. Specifically, weight loss is more likely to be sustained where people develop new habits that support weight management, and break old habits that may undermine such efforts. Interventions seeking to break 'bad' weight-related habits have focused on inhibiting unwanted impulses or avoiding cues. This paper draws attention to the possibility that while such approaches may discontinue habitual behaviour, underlying habit associations may remain. We use evidence from existing qualitative studies to demonstrate that, left unchecked, unwanted habit associations can render people prone to lapsing into old patterns of unhealthy behaviours when motivation or willpower is momentarily weakened, or when returning to familiar settings following temporarily discontinued exposure. We highlight six behaviour change techniques especially suited to disrupting habit associations, but show that these techniques have been underused in weight loss maintenance interventions to date. We call for intervention developers and practitioners to adopt techniques conducive to forming new habit associations to directly override old habits, and to use the persistence of unwanted habit associations as a potential indicator of long-term weight loss intervention effectiveness.

Are web-based personally tailored physical activity videos more effective than personally tailored text-based interventions? Results from the three-arm randomised controlled TaylorActive trial.

OBJECTIVES: Some online, personally tailored, text-based physical activity interventions have proven effective. However, people tend to 'skim' and 'scan' web-based text rather than thoroughly read their contents. In contrast, online videos are more engaging and popular. We examined whether web-based personally tailored physical activity videos were more effective in promoting physical activity than personally tailored text and generic information. METHODS: 501 adults were randomised into a video-tailored intervention, text-tailored intervention or control. Over a 3-month period, intervention groups received access to eight sessions of web-based personally tailored physical activity advice. Only the delivery method differed between intervention groups: tailored video versus tailored text. The primary outcome was 7-day ActiGraph-GT3X+ measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) assessed at 0, 3 and 9 months. Secondary outcomes included self-reported MVPA and website engagement. Differences were examined using generalised linear mixed models with intention-to-treat and multiple imputation. RESULTS: Accelerometer-assessed MVPA increased 23% in the control (1.23 (1.06, 1.43)), 12% in the text-tailored (1.12 (0.95, 1.32)) and 28% in the video-tailored (1.28 (1.06, 1.53)) groups at the 3-month follow-up only, though there were no significant between-group differences. Both text-tailored (1.77 (1.37, 2.28]) and video-tailored (1.37 (1.04, 1.79)) groups significantly increased self-reported MVPA more than the control group at 3 months only, but there were no differences between video-tailored and text-tailored groups. The video-tailored group spent significantly more time on the website compared with text-tailored participants (90 vs 77 min, p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: The personally tailored videos were not more effective than personally tailored text in increasing MVPA. The findings from this study conflict with pilot study outcomes and previous literature. Process evaluation and mediation analyses will provide further insights. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12615000057583.

Methods and design for the ADAPT study: Application of integrateD Approaches to understanding Physical activity during the Transition to emerging adulthood.

BACKGROUND: The overarching objective of the study is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the salient factors predicting changes in physical activity (PA) during adolescents' transition into emerging adulthood. Using the Multi-Process Action Control model as our guiding framework, we will examine how implicit and explicit psychological processes along with regulatory practices impact PA change during this major life transition. Additionally, we will use a real-time data capture method called Ecological Momentary Assessment to further investigate how environmental and contextual factors, and momentary psychosocial influences effect PA patterns across this dynamic life stage. METHODS: The ADAPT study is a 4-year project comprised of two interrelated studies. Study I is a large prospective cohort study that will invite all grade 11 students across one large school board (a total of seven secondary schools) to participate by completing an online questionnaire. Using a cluster randomization approach, a subset of students from each school will be invited to participate in Study II, whereby participants will wear an accelerometer and complete Ecological Momentary Assessments 5 times a day over a 7-day study period. For both studies, following baseline assessments, there will be three annual follow-up assessments approximately 12 months apart. DISCUSSION: The current study represents one of the largest longitudinal cohort studies examining PA and its determinants and associated consequences among adolescents transitioning out of high school into emerging adulthood. Findings from this study will provide a much more in-depth understanding of how and why changes in PA behaviour occur across this first major life transition.

Barriers to healthy lifestyle behaviors in Australian nursing students: A qualitative study.

Studying at university is stressful, which can lead to unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. This study aimed to explore perceived reasons and barriers preventing Australian nursing students from engaging in a healthy lifestyle and strategies to overcome barriers. Fifty-four bachelor of nursing students participated in seven focus groups between July and November 2018. Participants defined healthy lifestyle behaviors as eating well; regular physical activity; regular water consumption; limiting alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine; good sleep quality; stress management and relaxation; and regular social interaction and support. They identified individual (lack of motivation, existing bad habits, lack of knowledge), environmental (time, finances, limited access to healthy food and physical activity resources), and psychosocial (competing priorities, increased learning cognitive load, lack of social interaction and support, compassion fatigue, and shift work) barriers preventing healthy lifestyle. Participants proposed several individual and system-related strategies to overcome barriers. Despite portraying a comprehensive understanding of healthy lifestyle behaviors, students reported finding difficulty in attaining healthy lifestyles. Strategies proposed by students may inform targeted interventions aiming to increase overall health of students, reduce attrition rates, and promote workforce retention post-graduation.

How we are misinterpreting physical activity intention - behavior relations and what to do about it.

BACKGROUND: Studies of the physical activity intention-behavior gap, and factors that may moderate the gap (e.g., habit, perceived behavioral control), can inform physical activity promotion efforts. Yet, these studies typically apply linear modeling procedures, and so conclusions rely on linearity and homoscedasticity assumptions, which may not hold. METHODS: We modelled and plotted physical activity intention-behavior associations and the moderation effects of habit using simulated data based on (a) normal distributions with no shared variance, (b) correlated parameters with normal distribution, and (c) realistically correlated and non-normally distributed parameters. RESULTS: In the uncorrelated and correlated normal distribution datasets, no violations were unmet, and the moderation effects applied across the entire data range. However, because in the realistic dataset, few people who engaged in physical activity behavior had low intention scores, the intention-behavior association was non-linear, resulting in inflated linear moderation estimations of habit. This finding was replicated when tested with intention-behavior moderation of perceived behavioral control. CONCLUSIONS: Comparisons of the three scenarios illustrated how an identical correlation coefficient may mask different types of intention-behavior association and moderation effects. These findings highlight the risk of misinterpreting tests of the intention-behavior gap and its moderators for physical activity due to unfounded statistical assumptions. The previously well-documented moderating effects of habit, whereby the impact of intention on behavior weakens as habit strength increases, may be based on statistical byproducts of unmet model assumptions.

Is sitting invisible? Exploring how people mentally represent sitting.

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that prolonged uninterrupted sitting can be detrimental to health. Much sedentary behaviour research is reliant on self-reports of sitting time, and sitting-reduction interventions often focus on reducing motivation to sit. These approaches assume that people are consciously aware of their sitting time. Drawing on Action Identification Theory, this paper argues that people rarely identify the act of sitting as 'sitting' per se, and instead view it as an incidental component of more meaningful and purposeful typically-seated activities. METHODS: Studies 1 and 2 explored whether people mentioned sitting in written descriptions of actions. Studies 3-5 compared preferences for labelling a typically desk-based activity as 'sitting' versus alternative action identities. Studies 6 and 7 used card-sort tasks to indirectly assess the prioritisation of 'sitting' relative to other action descriptions when identifying similar actions. RESULTS: Participants rarely spontaneously mentioned sitting when describing actions (Studies 1-2), and when assigning action labels to a seated activity, tended to offer descriptions based on higher-order goals and consequences of action, rather than sitting or other procedural elements (Studies 3-5). Participants primarily identified similarities in actions based not on sitting, but on activities performed while seated (e.g. reading; Studies 6-7). CONCLUSION: 'Sitting' is a less accessible cognitive representation of seated activities than are representations based on the purpose and implications of seated action. Findings suggest that self-report measures should focus on time spent in seated activities, rather than attempting to measure sitting time via direct recall. From an intervention perspective, findings speak to the importance of targeting behaviours that entail sitting, and of raising awareness of sitting as a potential precursor to attempting to reduce sitting time.

Cognitive resources moderate the adverse impact of poor perceived neighborhood conditions on self-reported physical activity of older adults.

Poor neighborhood conditions are associated with lower levels of physical activity for older adults but socio-ecological models posit that physical activity depends on both environmental and individual factors. Older adults' ability to overcome environmental barriers to physical activity may partially rely on cognitive resources. However, evidence on the moderating role of these cognitive resources in the associations between environmental barriers and physical activity is still lacking. We analyzed cross-national and longitudinal data on 28,393 adults aged 50 to 96 years as part of the SHARE. Lack of access to services and neighborhood nuisances were used as indicators of poor neighborhood conditions. Delayed recall and verbal fluency were used as indicators of cognitive resources. Confounder-adjusted generalized estimation equations were conducted to test associations between neighborhood conditions and self-reported moderate physical activity, as well as the moderating role of cognitive resources. Results showed that poor neighborhood conditions reduced the odds of engagement in physical activity. Cognitive resources robustly reduced the adverse influence of poor neighborhood conditions on physical activity. Participants with lower cognitive resource scores showed lower odds of engaging in physical activity when neighborhood conditions were poorer, whereas these conditions were not related to this engagement for participants with higher cognitive resource scores. These findings suggest that cognitive resources can temper the detrimental effect of poor neighborhood conditions on physical activity. Public policies should target both individual and environmental factors to tackle the current pandemic of physical inactivity more comprehensively.

Exercise and mental health literacy in an Australian adult population.

BACKGROUND: Exercise is a well-established treatment for depression, and its use in clinical care is supported by consumers and clinicians. However, whether public health messages regarding the benefits of exercise for depression have translated to public knowledge remains unknown. This study aims to examine the community's mental health literacy, and views regarding exercise delivery for people with depression. METHODS: A vignette was presented as part of the telephone-based 2017 National Social Survey (n = 1,265). Interviewees identified what (if anything) was wrong with the person described, who they should seek help from, whether exercise might be beneficial, and how exercise should be delivered for the person described in the vignette. Results are reported using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: From 1,265 respondents (response rate = 24%, n = 598 males, mean age 54.7 years [range 18-101]), almost two-thirds correctly identified the condition described in the vignette as depression. There was widespread support for seeking help from a general practitioner. Exercise was well supported in the treatment of the person described in the vignette, with general practitioners and accredited exercise physiologists highlighted as persons to consult regarding exercise. Views regarding the type of program were consistent with current best practice recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Australian adults demonstrate a high level of exercise and mental health literacy. The high level of support for accredited exercise physiologists is evidence of the effectiveness of health promotion campaigns from peak exercise professional agencies.