Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Social Identity Informed Virtual Running Group Program

The UBC Socializing Together While Running InDEpendently (STRIDE) Pilot Trial: A Social Identity Informed Virtual Running Group Program

The STRIDE Pilot Trial is a randomized controlled pilot trial that will utilize social identity informed virtual running groups to support underactive undergraduate students' well-being and exercise behaviour. The main outcomes of this study are to determine whether the intervention is feasible and acceptable to conduct as a full-scale efficacy trial. Secondary outcomes of interest include changes in participants' exercise identity, exercise behaviour, perceived social support, and well-being. Participants' perceived social identification with their running group will also be assessed at the end of the study.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Physical Activity; Well-being; Identity, Social
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Virtual running group program; Behavioral: Attention Control: Fitness Application Strava

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 73
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • British Columbia
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z4
      • University of British Columbia

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:

• currently residing in Canada
• age 18+
• enrolled in undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia
• underactive (i.e., currently participating in less than the Canadian physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of physical activity per week)
• not experience any health contraindication which might prevent that person from participating in moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise.
• able to speak and read English
• own a smart phone
• have home access to the internet and a device with camera functionality

Exclusion Criteria:

• If a potential participant has a medical contraindication (flagged through the PAR-Q+ and ePARmedX) and have NOT been cleared to participate in physical activity by their physician they are then ineligible to participate in the study
• Participants are asked to record their running and walking behaviour on the fitness application Strava, and participate in Zoom coffee chats with their running group. If an individual is unwilling to download the Strava application and/or do not want to use Zoom they will be excluded from the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Social identity informed virtual running group; Participants will join running groups of six people (males and females) for eight weeks. Each running group will be given the group goal/challenge to collectively run/brisk walk the distance across the province of British Columbia (940 km) over the course of the eight week intervention (Estabrooks et al., 2008), and encouraged to complete 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week. Participants can record other moderate-to-vigorous exercise to contribute to the group goal. Running groups will be created on the fitness application Strava, and participants will record/post their runs on the Strava app so that members of their running group can provide 'kudos' and words of encouragement. Running groups will have a weekly a coffee chat (via Zoom) to socialize and discuss their experiences running/exercising and progress and challenges associated with meeting the group goal. Participants will also be provided running tip videos, phone armbands, and t-shirts with the study logo.	Behavioral: Virtual running group program; The intervention will include an eight-week virtual running group program hosted on online platforms such as Zoom and the fitness application Strava. Participants will be placed in running groups of 6 people, and each running group will have the collective goal to run/walk the distance across the province of B.C., (940 km) and will meet weekly over Zoom to socialize and discuss running topics and their progress towards the group goal. Participants will receive a t-shirt with the STRIDE logo and a phone armband for carrying their smart phone during runs and walks.
Active Comparator: Attention control group; This group of participants will act as an attention control condition. This group will be asked to download the fitness application Strava to their smartphone, and track all of their runs and walks on Strava. Similar to the intervention group, participants will be provided with phone armbands to carry their phone during a run or walk so they can record the run or walk on Strava, and will be asked to try participating in 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week.	Behavioral: Attention Control: Fitness Application Strava; The attention control condition will be instructed to record their exercise using the Strava application, and will be encouraged to participate in 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise each week of the intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility and Acceptability: Participant interest in the program	Total number of individuals expressing interest in the program.	Recorded from recruitment to follow-up (Week 8)
Feasibility and Acceptability: Participant enrolment	Participant enrolment will be assessed with the total number of participants enrolled in the study.	Follow up (Week 8)
Feasibility and Acceptability: Affective attitudes towards exercise	Participants' affective attitudes towards exercise will be assessed using four bipolar semantic differential adjectives (Conner et al., 2011) rated on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 to 7 (pleasant-unpleasant; enjoyable-unenjoyable; exciting-boring; satisfying-unsatisfying). The four items will be mean-scored (potential range 1-7), with higher scores reflecting higher positive affective attitudes towards exercise, and a more positive outcome.	Change from Baseline (Week 0) to follow-up (Week 8)
Feasibility and Acceptability: Program satisfaction	One item, adapted from a pilot study conducted by Vincze et al. (2018), will be used to assess general satisfaction with the program. Participants (virtual running program only) will rate their satisfaction with the STRIDE program on a 5-point Likert-type scale anchored by 1 (Not at all satisfied) to 5 (Extremely satisfied). Higher scores will reflect greater program satisfaction and a more positive outcome.	Follow-up (Week 8)
Feasibility and Acceptability: Study Retention	The percentage of participants who adhere to the study.	Recorded from Baseline (Week 0) to follow up (Week 8)
Feasibility and Acceptability: Questionnaire completion rates	Percentage of questionnaires completed.	Recorded from Baseline (Week 0) to follow up (Week 8)
Feasibility and Acceptability: Program attendance	Percentage of weekly Zoom meetings attended.	Recorded from Baseline (Week 0) to follow up (Week 8)
Feasibility and Acceptability: Semi structured interviews	10 semi-structured interviews will be conducted with members of the intervention group to assess participants' experiences and satisfaction with the program, as well as their perceptions of social support, group identification, and exercise identity throughout the program.	Follow up (Week 8)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Well-Being (Psychological Flourishing)	Domain general well-being will be assessed using the 8-item Flourishing Scale from Diener et el., (2010). Participants will respond to the 8 flourishing items on a 7-point Likert-type scale anchored by 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). The 8 items will be mean-scored (potential range 1-7), with higher scores indicating higher psychological flourishing and a more positive outcome.	Change from Baseline (Week 0) to follow-up (Week 8)
Perceived Social Support Received in the Context of Exercise	Social support in the context of exercise will be assessed using a four-item social support scale (Gleibs et al., 2011; Haslam et al., 2005) adapted for the context of exercise participation. Participants will respond to the 4 social support items on a 5-point Likert-type scale anchored by 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The 4 items will be mean-scored (potential range 1-5), with higher scores reflecting greater perceived social support from others in the context of exercise and a more positive outcome.	Change from Baseline (Week 0) to follow-up (Week 8)
Well-Being (Subjective Vitality)	Participants will complete the six-item (Bostic et al., 2000) Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS; Ryan & Frederick, 1997) adapted for the context of exercise behaviour. Participants will respond to the 6 exercise-related subjective vitality items on a 7-point Likert-type scale anchored by 1 (Not at All True) to 7 (Very True). The 6 items will be mean-scored (potential range 1-7), with higher scores reflecting greater subjective experiences of vitality in the context of exercise and a more positive outcome.	Change from Baseline (Week 0) to follow-up (Week 8)
Exercise Identity	Participants will complete the nine-item Exercise Identity Scale (Anderson & Cychosz, 1994). Participants will respond to the 9 exercise identity items on a 7-point Likert-type scale anchored by 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). Consistent with Wilson and Muon (2008), two separate scores will be calculated to reflect the role-identity dimension and the exercise beliefs dimension of the scale. Items 1, 2, and 6 will be mean-scored (potential range 1-7), with higher score reflecting a greater role identity in relation to exercise behaviour, and items 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 will be mean-scored (potential range 1-7), with higher scores reflecting greater exercise-related beliefs and a more positive outcome.	Change from Baseline (Week 0) to follow-up (Week 8)
Social Identification with the Running Group	Using a four-item social identification scale (Doosje et al., 1995), participants in the intervention condition will respond to four items inquiring the degree to which they positively identify with their running group. Participants will respond to the 4 social identification items using a 7-point Likert-type scale anchored by 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). The 4 items will be mean-scored (potential range 1-7), with higher scores reflecting stronger positive identification with the running group and a more positive outcome.	Follow-up (Week 8)
Exercise Behaviour	In reference to the past month, participants will report the number of times per week (on average) they engaged in mild, moderate, and vigorous exercise using the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (Godin & Shephard, 1985), and the average duration of mild, moderate, and vigorous exercise sessions (Courneya et al., 2004). Consistent with Courneya et al. (2004), the researchers will create an indicator of average weekly moderate-to-vigorous exercise minutes (in past month) for each participant using the following equation: (number of moderate exercise bouts x average minutes per bout) + (number of vigorous exercise bouts x average minutes per bout). The scores will have a minimum value of 0 minutes, with more minutes indicating greater participation in moderate-to-vigorous exercise and a more positive outcome.	Change from Baseline (Week 0) to follow-up (Week 8)
Weekly exercise behaviour (activity type)	Participants will log their daily exercise (type of activity) at the end of each week	Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
Weekly exercise behaviour (activity duration)	Participants will log their daily exercise (duration of activity) at the end of each week	Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
Demographics	Items addressing sex/gender, age, ethnicity, height, weight, residence (City, Province), disability, marital status, swelling type, living situation (alone, others), undergraduate major	Baseline (Week 0)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of British Columbia
• Collaborators: University of Victoria; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Godin G, Shephard RJ. A simple method to assess exercise behavior in the community. Can J Appl Sport Sci. 1985 Sep;10(3):141-6.
• Haslam SA, O'Brien A, Jetten J, Vormedal K, Penna S. Taking the strain: social identity, social support, and the experience of stress. Br J Soc Psychol. 2005 Sep;44(Pt 3):355-70. doi: 10.1348/014466605X37468.
• Courneya KS, Jones LW, Rhodes RE, Blanchard CM. Effects of different combinations of intensity categories on self-reported exercise. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2004 Dec;75(4):429-33. doi: 10.1080/02701367.2004.10609176. No abstract available.
• Ryan RM, Frederick C. On energy, personality, and health: subjective vitality as a dynamic reflection of well-being. J Pers. 1997 Sep;65(3):529-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1997.tb00326.x.
• Anderson DF, Cychosz CM. Development of an exercise identity scale. Percept Mot Skills. 1994 Jun;78(3 Pt 1):747-51. doi: 10.1177/003151259407800313.
• Bostic, T. J., Rubio, D. M., & Hood, M. (2000). A validation of the subjective vitality scale using structural equation modelling. Social Indicators Research, 52(3), 313-324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.1977.tb01338.x
• Conner M, Rhodes RE, Morris B, McEachan R, Lawton R. Changing exercise through targeting affective or cognitive attitudes. Psychol Health. 2011 Feb;26(2):133-49. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2011.531570.
• Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D.-W., Oishi, S., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Social Indicators Research, 97(2), 143-156.
• Doosje, B., Ellemers, N., Spears, R. (1995) Perceived intragroup variability as a function of group status and identification. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 31(5): 410-436.
• Estabrooks PA, Bradshaw M, Dzewaltowski DA, Smith-Ray RL. Determining the impact of Walk Kansas: applying a team-building approach to community physical activity promotion. Ann Behav Med. 2008 Aug;36(1):1-12. doi: 10.1007/s12160-008-9040-0. Epub 2008 Jul 8.
• Gleibs IH, Haslam C, Haslam SA, Jones JM. Water clubs in residential care: is it the water or the club that enhances health and well-being? Psychol Health. 2011 Oct;26(10):1361-77. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2010.529140. Epub 2011 May 23.
• Vincze L, Rollo ME, Hutchesson MJ, Callister R, Collins CE. VITAL change for mums: a feasibility study investigating tailored nutrition and exercise care delivered by video-consultations for women 3-12 months postpartum. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2018 Jun;31(3):337-348. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12549. Epub 2018 Mar 15.
• Wilson, P. M., & Muon, S. (2008). Psychometric properties of the exercise identity scale in a university sample. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6, 115-131.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 23, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 9, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): May 9, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 12, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 20, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): April 23, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 20, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 18, 2022
• Last Verified: May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Exercise; Feasibility; Well-being; Acceptability; Social Support; Social identity; Exercise identity
• Other Study ID Numbers: H20-03151

Drug and device information, study documents

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