Developing Real Incentives and Volition for Exercise

Overview

The overall goal of the Developing Real Incentives and Volition for Exercise (DRIVE) Project is to evaluate whether matching an intervention to individual differences in motivation (high autonomous vs high controlled) is a feasible strategy for engaging African American women in greater total physical activity (PA). The DRIVE Project will develop and evaluate two novel interventions: 1) a challenge-focused program that targets greater PA enjoyment, PA valuation, and relatedness through team-based activities, behavioral skills, and a positive social climate; and 2) a rewards-focused program that targets greater PA competency and relatedness through financial incentives, behavioral skills, and structured social support. To this end, the investigators will be implementing a randomized pilot study at a community center. It is hypothesized that participants who receive an intervention that is matched to their motivation for PA initiation (High Autonomous \& Challenge-Focused; High Controlled \& Rewards-Focused) will demonstrate greater improvements from baseline to post- in total physical activity than those who receive an unmatched intervention (High Autonomous \& Rewards-Focused; High Controlled \& Challenge-Focused). The DRIVE project will provide proof-of-concept for the feasibility and usefulness of developing motivationally-targeted intervention programs for engaging African American women in greater PA.

Although engaging in regular physical activity (PA) plays a critical role in reducing one's risk for numerous health problems, 4 out of 5 U.S. adults fail to meet national PA guidelines, with underserved groups (low income and racial/ethnic minority groups) having the highest rates of physical inactivity. Developing innovative strategies to motivate underserved groups to initiate PA has become an increasing national priority, but many implementation challenges remain, as evidenced by relatively low levels of program engagement among underserved groups. Increasingly, researchers have begun to show that rather than using a "one-size-fits all" intervention approach, developing interventions that target specific individual differences in cultural or social-cognitive factors is a highly effective approach for increasing engagement among underserved groups. Broadening this approach in a novel domain, the proposed research tests whether developing interventions that target differences in autonomous (internally-driven) vs. controlled (externally-driven) motivation is a feasible and useful approach for engaging African American women in PA initiation. The proposed study is a randomized pilot study comparing two intervention programs: a Challenge-focused program targeted toward high autonomous motivation and a Rewards-focused program targeted toward high controlled motivation. The Challenge-focused program targets greater PA enjoyment, PA valuation, and relatedness, and the Rewards-focused program targets greater PA competence and structured social support for PA. It is hypothesized that baseline motivation (measured with the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise questionnaire) will moderate treatment effects. Specifically, participants with relatively higher autonomous motivation will demonstrate greater improvements from baseline to post- in total physical activity when they receive the "matched" intervention (Challenge-Focused program) relative to the non-matched intervention (Rewards-Focused Program). Additionally, participants with relatively higher controlled motivation will demonstrate greater improvements from baseline to post- in total physical activity when they receive the "matched" intervention (Rewards-Focused program) relative to the non-matched intervention (Challenge-Focused Program). The results of this study will provide support of the feasibility and proof-of-concept for conducting a large scale randomized controlled trial.