A Trial of an Affect-Guided Physical Activity Prescription

NCT ID: NCT02507869

Last Updated: 2015-07-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 67 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2013-04-30
• Study Completion Date: 2014-04-30

Brief Summary

Despite awareness of the benefits of engaging in regular physical activity, at least 50% of adults in the US do not meet recommended guidelines for physical activity. One potential explanation for this lack of regular physical activity is that people often experience exercise as affectively unpleasant. Evidence suggests that the more positively people experience exercise (i.e., the better they feel while exercising), the more likely they are to engage in regular physical activity. This may be especially true for people in poor cardiorespiratory condition. In this randomized trial, investigators compared the effects of an affect-guided exercise prescription (intervention) to a heart rate-guided exercise prescription (control) on change in physical activity minutes among previously underactive adults. Investigators also tested whether the effect of the intervention was moderated by differences in cardiorespiratory fitness.

Detailed Description

Regular physical activity has many benefits for overall health and well-being, and current public health guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity to attain these benefits. Despite the many benefits of regular activity, the majority of adults in the US fail to meet recommendations for regular physical activity. One potential explanation for suboptimal levels of physical activity is that exercise is often experienced as affectively unpleasant. Recent work has demonstrated that the more positive people feel during exercise, the more likely they are to engage in regular physical activity. Affective response to exercise is modulated by the intensity of the activity: at a vigorous intensity, affective response is almost uniformly negative and unpleasant, whereas at a moderate intensity, there is more inter-individual variability in affective response. Whether the intensity of the exercise is self-selected or imposed also influences the affective response to exercise, with self-selected intensities being experienced as more pleasant. Current recommendations for engaging in physical activity focus on the type of training intensities most likely to result in a negative affective response. The purpose of this pilot trial was to test the effects of an exercise prescription focused on the maintenance of positive affect during exercise. Investigators randomized participants to one of two exercise prescription conditions: (1) an affect-guided prescription focused on maintaining a positive affective response (intervention), and (2) a heart rate-guided prescription focused on maintaining a moderate intensity (control). Investigators tested the effects of these two exercise prescriptions on changes in subsequent physical activity after one week and one month among a sample of underactive adults. Investigators also tested whether the effect of the intervention was moderated by differences in cardiorespiratory fitness.

Conditions

Physical Activity

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Affect-Guided Prescription

Intervention: Participants in the affect-guided condition are instructed to exercise while monitoring how they feel, and to adjust the intensity of their exercise to maintain a pleasant affective response.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Positive affective response

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants adjust the intensity of their exercise to maintain a pleasant affective response.

Heart Rate-Guided Prescription

Intervention: Participants in the heart rate-guided condition are instructed to exercise while monitoring their heart rate, and to adjust the intensity of the exercise to maintain a heart rate in the moderate range (64-76% of their HRmax).

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Moderate-intensity heart rate

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Participants adjust the intensity of the exercise to maintain a heart rate in the moderate range (64-76% of their HRmax).

Interventions

Positive affective response

Participants adjust the intensity of their exercise to maintain a pleasant affective response.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Moderate-intensity heart rate

Participants adjust the intensity of the exercise to maintain a heart rate in the moderate range (64-76% of their HRmax).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Physically underactive individuals (< 60 minutes of physical activity/week).

Exclusion Criteria

• Presence of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, or hypertension.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Southern Methodist University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Austin Baldwin

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Austin Baldwin, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Southern Methodist University

References

Ekkekakis P, Lind E. Exercise does not feel the same when you are overweight: the impact of self-selected and imposed intensity on affect and exertion. Int J Obes (Lond). 2006 Apr;30(4):652-60. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803052.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 16130028 (View on PubMed)

Ekkekakis P, Parfitt G, Petruzzello SJ. The pleasure and displeasure people feel when they exercise at different intensities: decennial update and progress towards a tripartite rationale for exercise intensity prescription. Sports Med. 2011 Aug 1;41(8):641-71. doi: 10.2165/11590680-000000000-00000.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 21780850 (View on PubMed)

Ekkekakis P, Lind E, Vazou S. Affective responses to increasing levels of exercise intensity in normal-weight, overweight, and obese middle-aged women. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Jan;18(1):79-85. doi: 10.1038/oby.2009.204. Epub 2009 Jun 25.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 19556979 (View on PubMed)

Parfitt G, Alrumh A, Rowlands AV. Affect-regulated exercise intensity: does training at an intensity that feels 'good' improve physical health? J Sci Med Sport. 2012 Nov;15(6):548-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2012.01.005. Epub 2012 May 31.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 22658587 (View on PubMed)

Williams DM, Dunsiger S, Jennings EG, Marcus BH. Does affective valence during and immediately following a 10-min walk predict concurrent and future physical activity? Ann Behav Med. 2012 Aug;44(1):43-51. doi: 10.1007/s12160-012-9362-9.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 22532005 (View on PubMed)

Williams DM, Dunsiger S, Miranda R Jr, Gwaltney CJ, Emerson JA, Monti PM, Parisi AF. Recommending self-paced exercise among overweight and obese adults: a randomized pilot study. Ann Behav Med. 2015 Apr;49(2):280-5. doi: 10.1007/s12160-014-9642-7.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 25223963 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2012-098-SMIJ

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id