Assessment of the Predictors and Moderators of Behavior Change (ABC)

The current study aims to investigate two potential interventions (i.e., cognitive dissonance and action planning) for inducing behavior change for behaviors important to college students-studying and exercise. In addition, this study will investigate factors that may impact behavior change, such as psychological and neuropsychological variables, to better understand how to bridge the intention-behavior gap.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Exercise
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cognitive Dissonance; Other: Action Planning; Other: Reflection (Control Condition)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 230
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Boston University Psychology 101 students at least 18 years of age
• Able to provide informed consent for the study
• Sufficient command of the English language
• Have experience using a computer and mouse

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cognitive Dissonance; After reading the materials about their chosen behavior, participants will be asked write an essay about their behavior of choice (studying/exercising). For this essay they will be asked to imagine that they have reached their ideal level of academic achievement/fitness, describe what this would look and feel like, and reflect on how this would impact how they view themselves, their relationships, and their day to day life.	Other: Cognitive Dissonance; After reading the materials about their chosen behavior, participants will be asked write an essay about their behavior of choice (studying/exercising). For this essay they will be asked to imagine that they have reached their ideal level of academic achievement/fitness, describe what this would look and feel like, and reflect on how this would impact how they view themselves, their relationships, and their day to day life.
Experimental: Action Planning; After reading the materials about their chosen behavior, participants will be asked to make a detailed plan for the following two weeks based on the following items taken from a study by Sniehotta and colleagues (2004): 1) when to complete studying/exercise, 2) where to complete studying/exercise, 3) how to complete studying/exercise (e.g., what types of exercise- cardio, class, etc. or what types of studying activities- reading, taking notes, creating outlines, etc.), and 4) how often to complete studying/exercise. Participants will be given a calendar as an aid to planning their behavior.	Other: Action Planning; After reading the materials about their chosen behavior, participants will be asked to make a detailed plan for the following two weeks based on the following items taken from a study by Sniehotta and colleagues (2004): 1) when to complete studying/exercise, 2) where to complete studying/exercise, 3) how to complete studying/exercise (e.g., what types of exercise- cardio, class, etc. or what types of studying activities- reading, taking notes, creating outlines, etc.), and 4) how often to complete studying/exercise. Participants will be given a calendar as an aid to planning their behavior.
Placebo Comparator: Reflection (Control Condition); After reading the materials about their chosen behavior, participants will be asked to summarize and reflect on what they read.	Other: Reflection (Control Condition); After reading the materials about their chosen behavior, participants will be asked to summarize and reflect on what they read.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
International Physical Activity Questionnaire	Participants who choose to change their exercising behavior will be administer only this outcome measure; therefore, all participants only complete 1 primary outcome measure.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Studying Questionnaire	Participants who choose to change their studying behavior will be administered only this outcome measure; therefore, all participants only complete 1 primary outcome measure.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Distress Intolerance Index	Measure of distress intolerance.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS)	Self-report measure of impulsivity.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)	Self-report measure of worry.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Self-Control Scale (SCS)	Perceived self-control measure.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Delay Discounting Questionnaire	Monetary choice task.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)	Self-report measure of sleep quality for the past month.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)	Self-report measure of depressive symptoms.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)	Self-report measure of anxiety symptoms experienced in past week.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks
Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale	Self-report measure of perceived self-efficacy.	Change from baseline to 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Patten EA, Kredlow MA, Szuhany KL, Keshishian AC, Otto MW. Catching As and Zs: poor sleep quality predicts failures to increase studying time. Sleep Health. 2020 Feb;6(1):15-18. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2019.09.001. Epub 2019 Oct 31.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2016
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 29, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 1, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): May 4, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 29, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 25, 2018
• Last Verified: May 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 3555E

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO