Effects of Physical Activity Adequacy Mindsets on Health and Wellbeing

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

164 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-05-30

Study Completion Date

2019-11-15

Brief Summary

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It is widely known that physical activity is important for health and wellbeing, yet most Americans do not meet recommended levels of activity. People may commonly believe that only the actual amount of physical activity matters for health and wellbeing. However, the investigators propose that individuals' mindsets about the adequacy of their level of physical activity and its corresponding health consequences (activity adequacy mindsets) affect health outcomes, over and above their actual level of physical activity. In recent years, health technologies such as wearable fitness trackers have become popular tools to promote higher levels of physical activity. This study leverages the tracking and feedback capabilities of Apple Watch to study the effects of mindsets about physical activity on health and wellbeing, as well as the pathways through which these effects may occur.

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Detailed Description

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Study Overview: This study examines how individuals' mindsets about the adequacy of their level of physical activity and its corresponding health consequences (activity adequacy mindsets) affect health outcomes. Participants attend an "onboarding" lab session in which they complete physiological, cognitive, and psychological measures and receive an Apple Watch to wear for the following 5 weeks. The Watch is equipped with a step count tracking app. No step count feedback is provided in week 1 as a baseline; starting in week 2, participants are randomized to 4 conditions in which either 1) accurate, 2) inflated, or 3) deflated step count is displayed on the watch in order to manipulate participants' perceived physical activity, independently of their actual physical activity. In condition 4, participants receive a meta-mindset intervention in addition to accurate step count feedback. Throughout the 5 weeks, participants complete short daily surveys and longer weekly surveys administered online. Finally, participants come in for an "offboarding" lab session in which the same measures are collected as in the onboarding session.

Participants: Participants will be 160 healthy adults recruited from the community, 40 per condition.

Main Hypotheses: This is a largely exploratory study, examining various mechanisms through which activity adequacy mindsets may affect health and wellbeing. Tests include (but are not limited to) the following key hypotheses:

H1) Inflated step count feedback (compared to accurate feedback) leads to a more positive activity adequacy mindset, and deflated feedback (compared to accurate feedback) leads to a more negative activity adequacy mindset (see Primary Outcome Measures).

H2) Activity adequacy mindset influences health and wellbeing (see Primary Outcome Measures) over and above actual physical activity.

H3) Activity adequacy mindset influences health and wellbeing through various mechanisms (see Secondary Outcome Measures):

H3a) Affective mechanism: A more positive (vs. negative) activity adequacy mindset leads to more positive everyday affect (incl. higher satisfaction, lower anxiety, lower stress). Positive affect in turn improves health and wellbeing.

H3b) Motivational/ behavioral mechanism: A more positive (vs. negative) activity adequacy mindset leads to higher motivation to exercise and improve one's health, as well as higher exercise self-efficacy. Higher motivation and self-efficacy in turn lead to higher levels of actual physical activity, which in turn improve health and wellbeing.

H3c) Placebo mechanism: A more positive (vs. negative) activity adequacy mindset directly improves health and wellbeing through placebo/ nocebo effects.

H4) A meta-mindset intervention teaching people about activity adequacy mindsets leads them to adopt more positive mindsets, which in turn predicts improved health and wellbeing through the mechanisms described under H3. That is, compared to accurate step count feedback only, accurate feedback plus meta-mindset intervention leads to improved health and wellbeing.

Conditions

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Activity Adequacy Mindsets

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Accurate step count feedback

All arms are given identical instructions in the onboarding session, including information about the study purpose and Apple Watch. They complete the same set of physiological, cognitive, and psychological measures and receive an Apple Watch to wear for the following 5 weeks. Throughout the 5 weeks, participants complete short daily surveys and longer weekly surveys. Finally, participants come in for an "offboarding" lab session in which the same measures are collected as in the onboarding session.

In this arm, participants' Apple Watches will simply display their accurate step count.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Accurate step count feedback

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will simply see their accurate step count.

Deflated step count feedback

All arms are given identical instructions in the onboarding session, including information about the study purpose and Apple Watch. They complete the same set of physiological, cognitive, and psychological measures and receive an Apple Watch to wear for the following 5 weeks. Throughout the 5 weeks, participants complete short daily surveys and longer weekly surveys. Finally, participants come in for an "offboarding" lab session in which the same measures are collected as in the onboarding session.

In this arm, participants' Apple Watches will display a deflated step count.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Deflated step count feedback

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will see their step count deflated by 40% (i.e., their step count multiplied by 0.6).

Inflated step count feedback

All arms are given identical instructions in the onboarding session, including information about the study purpose and Apple Watch. They complete the same set of physiological, cognitive, and psychological measures and receive an Apple Watch to wear for the following 5 weeks. Throughout the 5 weeks, participants complete short daily surveys and longer weekly surveys. Finally, participants come in for an "offboarding" lab session in which the same measures are collected as in the onboarding session.

In this arm, participants' Apple Watches will display an inflated step count.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Inflated step count feedback

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will see their step count inflated by 40% (i.e., their step count multiplied by 1.4).

Accurate feedback + mindset intervention

All arms are given identical instructions in the onboarding session, including information about the study purpose and Apple Watch. They complete the same set of physiological, cognitive, and psychological measures and receive an Apple Watch to wear for the following 5 weeks. Throughout the 5 weeks, participants complete short daily surveys and longer weekly surveys. Finally, participants come in for an "offboarding" lab session in which the same measures are collected as in the onboarding session.

In this arm, participants' Apple Watches will display their accurate step count. Additionally, participants in this arm will receive a meta-mindset intervention.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Accurate feedback + mindset intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will simply see their accurate step count.

Additionally, participants in this arm will receive a meta-mindset intervention in the first weekly survey on day 7, which consists of a series of videos and reflection exercises to teach participants about the power of mindsets and encourage them to choose adaptive mindsets that will benefit their health. There are also short booster reflection exercises in all subsequent daily and weekly surveys, reinforcing the message about adaptive mindsets.

Interventions

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Accurate step count feedback

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will simply see their accurate step count.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Deflated step count feedback

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will see their step count deflated by 40% (i.e., their step count multiplied by 0.6).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Inflated step count feedback

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will see their step count inflated by 40% (i.e., their step count multiplied by 1.4).

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Accurate feedback + mindset intervention

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will simply see their accurate step count.

Additionally, participants in this arm will receive a meta-mindset intervention in the first weekly survey on day 7, which consists of a series of videos and reflection exercises to teach participants about the power of mindsets and encourage them to choose adaptive mindsets that will benefit their health. There are also short booster reflection exercises in all subsequent daily and weekly surveys, reinforcing the message about adaptive mindsets.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Low level of physical activity in the prior six months, as indicated by self-report
* Walking as primary source of physical activity in the prior six months, as indicated by self-report
* Ability to understand study procedures and to comply with them for the entire length of the study.

Exclusion Criteria

* Candidates who answer affirmatively to any of the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) items will be excluded, unless they get clearance from a physician that they are able to participate in the study.
* Candidates who report pregnancy will be excluded, as natural changes in weight and body composition during pregnancy would invalidate our results.

Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes