Effects of Physical Activity Adequacy Mindsets on Health and Wellbeing

Summary

It is widely known that physical activity is important for health and wellbeing, yet most Americans do not meet recommended levels of activity. People may commonly believe that only the actual amount of physical activity matters for health and wellbeing. However, the investigators propose that individuals' mindsets about the adequacy of their level of physical activity and its corresponding health consequences (activity adequacy mindsets) affect health outcomes, over and above their actual level of physical activity. In recent years, health technologies such as wearable fitness trackers have become popular tools to promote higher levels of physical activity. This study leverages the tracking and feedback capabilities of Apple Watch to study the effects of mindsets about physical activity on health and wellbeing, as well as the pathways through which these effects may occur.

Conditions

• Activity Adequacy Mindsets

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Accurate step count feedback

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will simply see their accurate step count.

BEHAVIORAL

Deflated step count feedback

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will see their step count deflated by 40% (i.e., their step count multiplied by 0.6).

BEHAVIORAL

Inflated step count feedback

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will see their step count inflated by 40% (i.e., their step count multiplied by 1.4).

BEHAVIORAL

Accurate feedback + mindset intervention

After one week of baseline step count measurement, participants will receive the intervention. Starting day 8, participants' Apple Watches will start displaying their step count. In this arm, they will simply see their accurate step count. Additionally, participants in this arm will receive a meta-mindset intervention in the first weekly survey on day 7, which consists of a series of videos and reflection exercises to teach participants about the power of mindsets and encourage them to choose adaptive mindsets that will benefit their health. There are also short booster reflection exercises in all subsequent daily and weekly surveys, reinforcing the message about adaptive mindsets.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

  collaborator NIH

• Stanford University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Alia J Crum, PhD · Stanford University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-05-30

Primary Completion

2019-11-15

Completion

2019-11-15

Countries

• United States

Study Locations