Clinical trial

eMOTION: Examining Affective Mechanisms in Physical Activity Engagement

Recruiting now · Not applicable · 1 countries · Registry ID NCT06570642

Recruiting nowNot applicableInterventional

What this study is about

This early-phase trial will test intervention strategies to influence affective mechanisms underlying physical activity and determine whether changes in those mechanisms result in change in physical activity behavior among inactive adults who are overweight or obese.

A promising-looking record is not the same as confirmed eligibility. The study team must review the full criteria and current recruitment status.

Basic eligibility

Age18 Years to Not listed

SexAll

Healthy volunteersAccepted

ConditionPhysical Inactivity, Overweight or Obesity, Cancer

Full registry criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Aged ≥ 18 years 2. Reside in the United States 3. Self-reported BMI ≥ 25 4. Current structured physical activity engagement \< 60 minutes per week 5. Own a personal smartphone device 6. Reside in an area with Internet or Wi-Fi connectivity during the study period 7. Able to speak and read in English 8. Interested and willing to start a physical activity program 9. Willing to wear a Fitbit Versa smartwatch provided by the study team everyday continuously (including at work and during physical activity), in place of any Fitbits or smartwatches previously worn, for the duration of the study period 10. Able to read the small font on a smartwatch screen without glasses, or willing to carry reading glasses during physical activity for the purpose of reading the smartwatch screen Exclusion Criteria: 1. Inability to provide informed consent due to cognitive disability 2. Inability to engage in one or more key treatment components, including those with medical conditions that preclude physical activity engagement or who cannot wear an accelerometer on the wrist or answer brief surveys on the smartwatch for any reason 3. Current pregnancy 4. Referred to the study by another participant or from Reddit.

Treatments and study arms

Physical Activity Goals mHealth Intervention

Behavioral

On days participants plan to exercise, they engage in two daily goal sessions (morning and evening). Morning sessions provide an activity goal for the day and ask the participant to create a plan, anticipate barriers, and brainstorm solutions for achieving this goal. The affect-based goal condition asks participants to engage in either (1) a type (50% of daily goals) or (2) a context (50% of daily goals) of physical activity that allows them to experience positive affect. Goals focused on context are randomly generated to suggest that the participant performs activity (1) in a place; (2) in a social situation; or (3) while listening to something that makes them feel good. The intensity-based goal condition asks participants to maintain a certain target heart rate range during physical activity. Starting heart rate reflects the approximate age-adjusted heart rate max, with goals progressively increasing from 55% to 70% heart rate max.

TYPE/CONTEXT enhancement

Behavioral

TYPE/CONTEXT augments intervention effects by providing tailored recommendations for activity types and contexts that satisfy personally-important psychological needs as rated by each participant at baseline. Ratings from a crowdsourced panel of adults on Amazon Mechanical Turk will be used to determine the potential for specific activity types and contexts to satisfy psychological needs; our tailoring algorithm will then recommend the corresponding activity type or context while accounting for reported constraints (e.g., ability, access). These details will be incorporated into a tailored recommendation provided to participants each Sunday as they make activity plans for the upcoming week. Specifically, the program will randomly select either type or context (i.e., location, audio, social) recommendations and will rotate every two weeks. For TYPE, participants' top 3 activity types are recommended; for CONTEXT, participants' top 3 activity contexts are recommended.

SAVOR enhancement

Behavioral

SAVOR implements a brief savoring exercise on the smartphone that takes place either after the planned physical activity session or during the evening goal session (after the self-monitoring module). Participants will respond to questions that are intended to enhance and prolong positive experiences during physical activity. To trigger attentional deployment, a common savoring strategy that involves intensifying experiences by focusing on them, participants will answer three open-ended prompts. These prompts are drawn from a prompt pool with slightly varied wording to promote a sense of novelty. Savoring prompts will rotate daily and have a day lag built in every week (i.e., Week 1 Monday Savoring Prompts are Week 2 Tuesday Savoring Prompts).

Primary outcomes

Physical Activity: Step CountDaily total for weeks 1-19

Daily steps will be calculated from minute-level accelerometer data. Fitbit Versa 3 smartwatches with internal accelerometers are worn for the duration of the study period, except while bathing or charging. Only days with sufficient wear time (defined as ≥ 10-hours of valid data, where no more than 20-minutes per hour has a consecutive step count of zero) are used for analysis.

Physical Activity: MinutesDaily total for weeks 1-19

Daily minutes of light, moderate, and vigorous physical activity will be calculated from minute-level accelerometer data. Fitbit Versa 3 smartwatches with internal accelerometers are worn for the duration of the study period, except while bathing or charging. Only days with sufficient wear time (defined as ≥ 10-hours of valid data, where no more than 20-minutes per hour has a consecutive step count of zero) are used for analysis.

Study locations

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University of Southern California🇺🇸 Los Angeles, California, United States

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Micaela Hewus, MPHContact

Email · Call 323-442-8224

Rachel C Lyons, MSContact

Email · Call 3175187670