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Goal setting and achievement for walking: A series of N-of-1 digital interventions.


ABSTRACT:

Objective

Despite evidence that goal setting is valuable for physical activity promotion, recent studies highlighted a potential oversimplification in the application of this behavior change technique. While more difficult performance goals might trigger higher physical activity levels, higher performance goals might concurrently be more difficult to achieve, which could reduce long-term motivation. This study examined (a) the association between performance goal difficulty and physical activity and (b) the association between performance goal difficulty and goal achievement.

Method

This study used data from an e-Health intervention among inactive overweight adults (n = 20). The study duration included a 2-week baseline period and an intervention phase of 80 days. During the intervention, participants received a daily step goal experimentally manipulated by taking participants' baseline physical activity median (i.e., number of steps) multiplied by a pseudorandom factor ranging from 1 to 2.6. A continuous measure of goal achievement was inferred for each day by dividing the daily number of steps by the goal prescribed that day. Linear and generalized additive models were fit for each participant.

Results

The results confirm that, for a majority of the participants involved in the study, performance goal difficulty was positively and significantly associated with physical activity (n = 14), but, concurrently, negatively and significantly associated with goal achievement (n = 19). These associations were mainly linear.

Conclusion

At the daily level, setting a higher physical activity goal leads to engaging in higher physical activity levels, but concurrently lower goal achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

SUBMITTER: Chevance G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7928044 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Goal setting and achievement for walking: A series of N-of-1 digital interventions.

Chevance Guillaume G   Baretta Dario D   Golaszewski Natalie N   Takemoto Michelle M   Shrestha Sama S   Jain Sonia S   Rivera Daniel E DE   Klasnja Predrag P   Hekler Eric E  

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 20201130 1


<h4>Objective</h4>Despite evidence that goal setting is valuable for physical activity promotion, recent studies highlighted a potential oversimplification in the application of this behavior change technique. While more difficult performance goals might trigger higher physical activity levels, higher performance goals might concurrently be more difficult to achieve, which could reduce long-term motivation. This study examined (a) the association between performance goal difficulty and physical  ...[more]

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