Peer Motivation Coaches, Social Media-based Support Group, and Behavior Change Strategies to Decrease Prolonged Sitting and Increase Moderate Exercise Snacks

Overview

The MOV'D (Move Often eVery Day) intervention is a remotely-delivered, peer-supported intervention that delivers exercise snack (2-5 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity) and behavior change technique (BCT) videos to a private social media support group with the goal of interrupting prolonged sitting at work with MVPA minutes. The preliminary efficacy, feasibility, and acceptability trial will test the effects of MOV'D, a socially-supported, evidence-based behavior change technique educational and behavioral intervention to increase the number of active hours (an indirect measure of prolonged sitting bouts) (Hypothesis 1) and number of MVPA minutes (Hypothesis 2). This pilot will gather important estimates of the effect sizes, the variance, and covariance of the primary outcomes to calculate the sample size needed to power a larger fully powered RCT.

Prolonged sitting and inadequate moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) are pervasive risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recent research has shown that some benefits of moderate to vigorous physical activity can be accrued in motivationally accessible short, 2-5 minute bouts throughout the day rather than needing to be a single, longer, continuous bout. The MOV'D intervention is a novel, remotely-delivered, social-media-based intervention to interrupt prolonged sitting with short bouts of MVPA, compared with a Fitbit-only control. The investigators will randomly assign participants to either MOV'D or a Fitbit only control for one month, with a one-month follow-up, to compare immediate and prolonged effects of treatment on number of workday hours with activity break and number of MVPA minutes.