The Active by Choice Today (ACT) Trial to Increase Physical Activity (ACT)

January 17, 2023 updated by: Dawn Wilson, University of South Carolina

Self-Determination for Increasing Physical Activity

The increasing prevalence of obesity in U.S. children and adolescents is a major health threat to our society, especially among minority and low social economic status (SES) populations. During adolescence physical activity (PA) decreases and is likely an important contributor to the increasing trend in childhood obesity rates. Little evidence suggests that school-based curriculum interventions lead to increases in overall PA. Thus, this proposal will evaluate the efficacy of an innovative motivational and behavioral skills after-school program for promoting increases PA among underserved adolescents (e.g., minorities, low SES). The motivational plus behavioral skills intervention is consistent with Self-Determination (Motivation) Theory and Social Cognitive Theory in that it emphasizes increasing intrinsic motivation and behavioral skills for PA. Adolescents in the intervention take part in developing the program, selecting physical activities that generate fun and interest, and generating their own coping strategies for making effective PA changes during a videotaped session. Preliminary data from our group demonstrates the feasibility of the motivational plus behavioral skills PA program for increasing moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) in underserved adolescents in South Carolina. The proposed project will use a school-based nested cohort design to evaluate efficacy of a 17-week motivational plus behavioral skills program versus typical after-school program (general health education only) on increasing PA in underserved adolescents. Twenty-four middle schools (70 6th graders per school; N=1,680), located in South Carolina will be randomly assigned to one of two after-school programs. The study employs a nested cohort design, with schools, rather than individuals assigned to condition and will be analyzed using repeated measures analysis of covariance techniques as outlined by Murray. We will also examine psychosocial variables (PA self-efficacy, self-concept, motivation, social support, and enjoyment) as potential mediators of the intervention on changes in MVPA using regression and structural equation modeling techniques. This study will address an important public health problem that will have implications for decreasing obesity in underserved adolescents.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

1422

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Columbia, South Carolina, United States, 29208
        • University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

10 years to 13 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • parental consent
  • agree to random assignment
  • 6th grade student

Exclusion Criteria:

  • medical condition that interfered with physical activity
  • developmentally delayed such that the intervention materials were not cognitively appropriate
  • currently in treatment for a psychiatric disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ACT Program
Motivational and Behavioral Skills Physical activity after-school program
Behavioral: Physical Activity Program
A 17-week motivational and behavioral skills after-school intervention for increasing moderate to vigorous physical activity in low income and minority adolescents.
Other Names:
  • ACT
Active Comparator: General Health
General health education after-school program
Behavioral: General Health Program
A 17-week general health afterschool intervention (comparison program) focused on nutrition, stress management, drug prevention, and drop-out prevention.
Other Names:
  • Comparison

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
moderate to vigorous physical activity (based on accelerometry estimates)
Time Frame: 2 weeks post intervention
2 weeks post intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
moderate to vigorous physical activity during the intervention (based on accelerometry estimates)
Time Frame: week 8 of the intervention
week 8 of the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of South Carolina

Collaborators

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dawn K Wilson, PhD, University of South Carolina
  • Study Director: Heather E Kitzman-Ulrich, PhD, University of South Carolina

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 1, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 8, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

December 9, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 19, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 17, 2023

Last Verified

December 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00005526
  • R01HD045693 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Obesity

Clinical Trials on Physical Activity Program

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Senegal

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe