Scheduled for Psychology I Free Communications, Wednesday, April 26, 2006, 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM, Convention Center: 150DEF


Analysis of Three Exercise Adherence Interventions on Self-Efficacy and Goal Orientation

Matthew R. Martin, Illinois State University, Bloomington, IL and Thomas L. Sharpe, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV

One of the greatest challenges facing contemporary North America is the increasingly acute and chronic nature of a variety of health risk factors, many of which exhibit onset at an increasingly younger age (Bouchard & Depres, 1995). A database now exists that correlates participation in regular physical activity with the prevention of many health-related diseases (Salmon, Bauman, Crawford, Timperio, & Owen, 2000). A main challenge, however, for health and physical activity professionals is one of a chronic lack of exercise by many Americans (Dishman, 1994). Sports psychology researchers have identified self-efficacy (Dzewaltowski, 1994) and goal orientation (Ntoumanis & Biddle, 1999) as significant predictors of exercise adherence. Those with positive self-efficacy, and those who adopt a task orientation toward physical activity, tend to consistently have higher exercise adherence levels. However, little literature exists to date regarding the development and documentation of pedagogical interventions that may functionally improve exercise adherence patterns and, equally important, how those pedagogical interventions may functionally change self-efficacy and goal orientation factors correlated with optimal exercise adherence patterns. This study, therefore, introduced a treatment reversal coupled with a comparative control experimental design to observe the potential effectiveness of instructor-led goal setting, public posting, and peer-feedback interventions with three separate university-based exercise classes (N=35, age M=22.5, SD=1.54). Demographic, Self-Efficacy Scale for Physical Appearance (SEPA) and Achievement Goal Orientation Scale for Physical Activity (AGOPA) questionnaires were administered to determine initial and ongoing participant characteristics across exercise prevalence, self-efficacy, and goal orientation variables as a function of study entrance and ongoing study participation. Exercise program adherence data using a class attendance measure, and participation effort data using an exercise completion scale were also collected. Correlations among (a) self-efficacy and exercise adherence, (b) goal orientation and exercise adherence, and (c) self-efficacy and goal orientation were first conducted using Pearson's r to support previous literature. Next, changes in self-efficacy, goal orientation, and exercise adherence measures were analyzed as a function of treatment exposure using a 3x3 ANOVA. Correlation results showed that high self-efficacy and task oriented goals were consistent predictors of exercise participation. Experimental results indicated that both public posting and peer-mediated instruction, were effective in (a) increasing exercise adherence, and (b) changing both self-efficacy levels and goal orientations in directions compatible with the existing exercise adherence literature. Recommendations include establishing a demographic, participant characteristic, and activity content sensitive literature in support of pedagogical practices that facilitate long term adherence to structured physical activity.


Keyword(s): exercise/fitness, physical activity, wellness/disease prevention

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