Implementation intentions, personality, and exercise behavior

by 1957- Ransom-Flint, Terry

The trend toward physical inactivity in adults in the United States has been a growing concern of researchers and health care professionals for decades. The present study investigated effects of an integrated intervention based on implementation intentions and relapse prevention methods to promote exercise behavior in college students. In addition, the study sought to examine whether dispositional variables, particularly personal disorganization, would moderate the effects of the implementation intention interventions. Participants in all active intervention conditions were predicted to report greater exercise frequency and duration as compared to control condition participants. Participants in the both the combined implementation intention-relapse prevention and implementation intention alone conditions were predicted to report greater increases in exercise frequency and duration compared to participants in the other two conditions. However, combined intervention condition participants were expected to report greater increases in exercise frequency and duration than would the implementation intention only group. Relapse prevention condition participants were predicted to report greater increases in frequency and duration than would the control group. Further, it was predicted that implementation intention interventions would be most effective in ii promoting exercise behavior for individuals with relatively high levels of personal disorganization as implementation intentions were purported to benefit behavioral performance for difficult tasks and for people who have difficulty regulating behavior. Ninety-two students recruited from introductory psychology courses were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (implementation intention, relapse prevention, combined implementation intention-relapse prevention, control). Participants completed self-report measures of intention to exercise, attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm, self-efficacy, past exercise behavior, and various personality measures. All participants were asked to exercise two more times a week than they had prior to the study and to record exercise frequency and duration in weekly diaries for a period of four weeks. In general, data from this investigation did not support the predictions regarding the effects of the interventions on exercise behavior. Personal disorganization was associated with attrition from the study and exercise frequency. Exercise self-efficacy, perceived behavioral control, and attitude toward exercise were significantly correlated with exercise behaviors. Possible explanations for the lack of intervention effects are discussed. iii