Logo image
Back
Identifying Momentary Psychological and Physiological Predictors of Physical Activity Intentions and Behavior Among Behavioral Weight Loss Participants
Conference presentation

Identifying Momentary Psychological and Physiological Predictors of Physical Activity Intentions and Behavior Among Behavioral Weight Loss Participants

Rebecca J Crochiere, Leah M Schumacher, Fengqing Zhang, Ashley Kim and Danielle R Arigo
Annals of behavioral medicine, v 60(Supplement_1), pp S558-S559
01 Apr 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaag012#page=S558
url
https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaag012#page=S558View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Background: Behavioral weight loss (BWL) participants have difficulty engaging in the high levels of prescribed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommended to promote weight control. Difficulty meeting the MVPA prescription could be due to: 1) low intention to engage in MVPA; and/or 2) difficulty following through with set intentions to engage in MVPA (intention-behavior gap). Recent studies have identified specific within-person psychological factors that predict MVPA intentions, behavior, and the intention-behavior gap. Yet, no known research has examined whether an array of cognitive, affective, social, and physiological factors predict these outcomes at the within-person level among a population with overweight/obesity seeking WL. Elucidating such predictors of MVPA outcomes could inform better targeting of risk/protective factors in BWL programs to boost MVPA adherence, which in turn, could improve weight control outcomes. The current study is the first to investigate whether 11 hypothesized physiological and psychological factors prospectively predicted MVPA intention, behavior, and the intention-behavior gap in a BWL program. Method: Participants (N = 118) were adults with overweight/obesity in a 12-week remote BWL intervention. Participants were instructed to answer 6 daily ecological momentary assessments (EMA; brief, smartphone-delivered surveys) for 6 weeks total, including 2 weeks at baseline, mid-treatment, and end-of-treatment. Empirically- and theoretically-supported predictors of MVPA intentions/behaviors were measured via EMA and included: stress, tiredness, energy level, positive affect, body satisfaction, feelings about a recent social interaction, busyness, pain/discomfort, perceived self-control, self-efficacy, and deservingness of self-kindness. Multilevel models assessed all prospective, within-person relations between these hypothesized predictors and 3 outcomes (MVPA intention, behavior, and the intention-behavior gap), controlling for survey number per day and assessment period. Results: Nine of the hypothesized factors significantly predicted MVPA intention: higher levels of stress (OR = 0.91), tiredness (OR = 0.77), and pain/discomfort (OR = 0.83) were associated with reduced odds of setting MVPA intentions, whereas higher levels of energy (OR = 1.29), positive affect (OR = 1.28), positive feelings about a recent social interaction (OR = 1.23), self-control (OR = 1.31), self-efficacy (OR = 1.40), and deservingness of self-kindness (OR = 1.30) were associated with increased odds of setting MVPA intentions (all p’s < .05). For engagement in MVPA, tiredness (OR = 0.78) was associated with reduced odds of subsequent MVPA, whereas higher levels of energy (OR = 1.29), positive affect (OR = 1.24), self-control (OR = 1.30), self-efficacy (OR = 1.25), and deservingness of self-kindness (OR = 1.23) were associated with increased odds of subsequent MVPA (all p’s < .05). Tiredness (OR = 1.19) was associated with increased odds of an intention-behavior gap (i.e., not following through with MVPA intentions), whereas higher levels of energy (OR = 0.88) and self-control (OR = 0.86) were associated with reduced odds of an intention-behavior gap (all p’s < .05). Conclusions: This study identified 9 prospective, within-day predictors of MVPA intentions, 6 such predictors of MVPA engagement, and 3 such predictors of the MVPA intention-behavior gap in the context of a BWL program. These findings provide critical information about intervention targets; for example, tiredness and low energy levels were consistently associated with reduced PA intentions and engagement. Knowledge of these predictive factors can inform the development of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) that deliver evidence-based skills and strategies at times of need, e.g., when tiredness is high and energy is low, potentially increasing PA engagement and improving weight control outcomes. Note: AI was used to help generate code for this project.

Metrics

1 Record Views

Details

Logo image