Feelings About Exercise

Affective Responses to Physical Activity: A Novel Intervention Target for Increasing Physical Activity

This study seeks to investigate why some individuals exercise more than others by focusing on feelings related to exercise. This two part study first examines whether regular exercisers (n=30) and non-exercisers (n=30) differ in how a 30-minute moderate-intensity exercise bout makes them feel. All participants will walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes on two separate occasions and will be asked to report on how they feel before, during, and after exercise, how they anticipate that exercise will make them feel, and how they remembered feeling during exercise. In addition, after exercise session #2, non-exercisers will be randomized to: 1) a brief intervention focused on providing general information about the physical activity guidelines, or 2) a brief intervention which provides general information about physical activity guidelines, but also focuses on affective responses to physical activity. Non-exercisers will complete an identical, third exercise session approximately 1-week following this intervention. Further, all participants will receive a 12-week, Internet-delivered weight loss program following all exercise visits and physical activity will be assessed before and after the weight loss program.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Obesity; Physical Activity
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Physical activity information; Behavioral: Affect and physical activity

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Rhode Island
    • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02903
      • Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18-60 years
• BMI between 25.0 and <40.0 kg/m2
• Either a 'Non-exerciser', defined as reporting exercising at a moderate-intensity for <30 min/week over the past 6 months and a most recent typical week or an 'exerciser', defined as exercising for ≥150 min/week over the past 6 months and a most recent typical week.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of any condition that would limit one's ability to exercise (e.g., orthopedic limitations)
• History of coronary artery disease (i.e., myocardial infarction or symptoms of angina), stroke, diabetes, or pulmonary disease (e.g., COPD or emphysema).
• Currently taking any medication that would alter heart rate (e.g., beta blocker)
• Women who are pregnant or nursing
• Uncontrolled hypertension (resting blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg)
• Exercising >30 min/week but <150 min/week (i.e., neither 'non-exerciser' nor 'exerciser')
• Use of medications for weight loss, or current participation in another weight loss program
• Bariatric surgery

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Physical activity information - for non-exercisers only; Non-exercisers randomized to this condition will receive basic information about physical activity. This includes the national physical activity guidelines,clarification of 'moderate-intensity', exercise safety, and the progression of physical activity within the weight loss program.	Behavioral: Physical activity information; Participants will receive general information about exercise safety, physical activity guidelines, and exercise intensity.
Experimental: Affect and physical activity - for non-exercisers only; Non-exercisers randomized to this condition will receive the same basic information about physical activity as described above, but they will also receive a brief intervention focused on affective responses to exercise.	Behavioral: Affect and physical activity; The focus of this intervention is to help the participant to become more aware of their positive feelings and experiences related to exercise. They will learn about typical affective responses to exercise, view their own affective responses to exercise, and they will be taught cognitive strategies for altering affective responses to exercise. Participants will also receive general information about exercise safety, physical activity guidelines, and exercise intensity.
No Intervention: Exercisers; Engaging in >=150 min/week of moderate-intensity exercise over the past 6 months and a most recent typical week
No Intervention: Non-exercisers; Engaging in <30 min/week of moderate-intensity exercise over the past 6 months and a most recent typical week

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pre-exercise Affect (Session 1)	Measured using Feeling Scale (FS) prior to exercise bout. Scores range from -5 to +5 with higher values indicating more positive affect	Prior to exercise
Mean During Exercise Affect (Session 1)	Average during exercise Feeling Scale (FS) score which was assessed every 5 minutes during exercise. Feeling Scale scores range from -5 to +5 with higher values indicating more positive affect.	average score assessed every 5 minutes during exercise, up to 30 minutes
Post-exercise Affect (Session 1)	Feeling Scale (FS) score 15 minutes post-exercise. Feeling Scale scores range from -5 to +5 with higher values indicating more positive affect.	15 minutes post-exercise
Memory of During Exercise Affect (Session 1) - Calculated as the Difference Between Recalled During Exercise Affect and Actual During Exercise Affect	Calculated as follows: recalled during exercise affect (assessed 7 days post-exercise) minus actual during exercise affect (average of Feeling Scale scores every 5 minutes during exercise). Possible scores for both recalled affect and actual affect range from -5 to +5, where higher numbers indicate more positive affect. A negative change value indicates that participants remembered feeling less positive during exercise than they actually felt.	average score assessed every 5 minutes during exercise, up to 30 minutes, and 7 days post-exercise
Memory of Post-exercise Affect (Session 1) - Calculated as the Difference Between Recalled Post-exercise Affect and Actual Post-exercise Affect	Calculated as follows: recalled post-exercise affect (assessed 7 days following exercise session) minus actual post-exercise affect (Feeling Scale score assessed 15 minutes post-exercise). Possible scores for both recalled affect and actual affect range from -5 to +5, where higher numbers indicate more positive affect. A negative change value indicates that participants remembered feeling less positive post-exercise than they actually felt.	15 minutes and 7 days post-exercise
Anticipated During Exercise Affect (Session 2)	How one anticipates that they will feel during exercise session 2 (an exercise session that is identical to exercise session 1).This was assessed prior to exercise session 2 via a 100 mm visual analogue scale (range 1-100) where a higher number indicates more positive affect.	prior to exercise session

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pre-exercise Affect (Session 3)	Measured using Feeling Scale (FS) prior to exercise bout. Scores range from -5 to +5 with higher values indicating more positive affect	Prior to exercise
Mean During Exercise Affect (Session 3)	Average during exercise Feeling Scale (FS) score which was assessed every 5 minutes during exercise. Feeling Scale scores range from -5 to +5 with higher values indicating more positive affect.	average score assessed every 5 minutes during exercise, up to 30 minutes
Post-exercise Affect (Session 3)	Feeling Scale (FS) score 15 minutes post-exercise. Feeling Scale scores range from -5 to +5 with higher values indicating more positive affect.	15 minutes post-exercise

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The Miriam Hospital
• Collaborators: Brown University; National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS): U54GM115677
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David Williams, PhD, Brown University; Principal Investigator: Jessica Unick, PhD, The Miriam Hospital; Principal Investigator: Kathryn Demos, PhD, The Miriam Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 31, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 12, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): October 22, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 16, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): July 26, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 28, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 31, 2021
• Last Verified: November 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physical activity; exercise; obesity; weight loss
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Overweight; Body Weight; Obesity
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1179772

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No