Moms in motion: a group-mediated cognitive-behavioral physical activity intervention

Abstract

Background: When examining the prevalence of physical inactivity by gender and age, women over the age of 25 are at an increased risk for sedentary behavior. Childbearing and motherhood have been explored as one possible explanation for this increased risk. Post natal exercise studies to date demonstrate promising physical and psychological outcomes, however few physical activity interventions have been theory-driven and tailored to post natal exercise initiates. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a group-mediated cognitive behavioral intervention based upon social-cognitive theory and group dynamics (GMCB) to a standard care postnatal exercise program (SE). Method:A randomized, two-arm intervention design was used. Fifty-seven post natal women were randomized to one of two conditions: (1) a standard exercise treatment (SE) and (2) a standard exercise treatment plus group-mediated cognitive behavioral intervention (GMCB). Participants in both conditions participated in a four-week intensive phase where participants received standard exercise training. In addition, GMCB participants received self-regulatory behavioral skills training via six group-mediated counseling sessions. Following the intensive phase, participants engaged in a four-week home-based phase of self-structured exercise. Measures of physical activity, barrier efficacy, and proximal outcome expectations were administered and data were analyzed using ANCOVA procedures.Results and discussion: ANCOVA of change scores for frequency, minutes, and volume of physical activity revealed significant treatment effects over the intensive and home-based phases (p's < 0.01). In addition, ANCOVA of change in mean barrier efficacy and proximal outcome expectations at the conclusion of the intensive phase demonstrated that GMCB participants increased their initial level of barrier efficacy and outcome expectations while SE participants decreased (p < 0.05). Conclusion:While both exercise programs resulted in improvements to exercise participation, the GMCB intervention produced greater improvement in overall physical activity, barrier efficacy and proximal outcome expectations.

Healthy Diet and Nutrition Education Program among Women of Reproductive Age: a Necessity of Multilevel Strategies or Community Responsibility

“…Albright et al 45 and Fahrenwald et al 46 carried out the physical activity intervention among mothers for 8-weeks and reported an increased level of PA post the intervention. Cramp and Brawley 47 and Miller et al 48 alongside with encouraging PA, they included ways of overcoming barriers to promote PA in the intervention. They demonstrated that the groups, who received exercise treatment in addition to the behavioral intervention, had higher PAL following the intervention.…”

Developing physical activity interventions for adults with spinal cord injury. Part 3: A pilot feasibility study of an intervention to increase self-managed physical activity.

“…Session attendance represented the number of GMCB sessions participants attended (ranging from 0 to 8). Interventionist satisfaction was rated on a 1 (not at all satisfied) to 10 (completely satisfied) scale.° As per Cohen's (1992) guidelines, effect sizes (d) were interpreted as small (d = 0.20), medium (d = 0.50), and large (d = 0.80). Effect size value is based on the transformed scores for LTPA and SRE and the raw score for action plans and physical outcome likelihood.…”

“…To address data non-normality, square-root transformations were applied to the LTPA and self-regulatory efficacy data prior to analyses. Cohen's d effect sizes were calculated with effects of 0.20, 0.50, and 0.80 indicating small, medium, and large effects, respectively (Cohen, 1992).…”

The Relationship between Falls Efficacy and Improvement in Fall Risk Factors Following an Exercise Plus Educational Intervention for Older Adults with Hip Osteoarthritis

“…The education component was also based on prior theory-based, group-mediated cognitivebehavioural interventions in which education to increase self-efficacy, albeit in different domains of performance (i.e., self-efficacy to regulate barriers, to set goals, to schedule/plan exercise), has been shown to be effective in increasing exercise adherence. [43][44][45] The impact of the educational component included in the EE condition, which was designed to address the primary sources of self-efficacy (including mastery, social persuasion, and knowledge of physiological and affective states), may have been greater than that of the basic information typically included in fall-prevention educational sessions. As well, participants in this study presented with a mobility restriction and at least one other fall-risk factor; individuals with hip OA who also have lower levels of falls efficacy may present with a unique set of physical and social characteristics that increase their receptiveness to a combined programme of exercise and self-efficacy-enhancing education.…”

“…[43][44][45] The education component in the present study included three determinants of self-efficacy: enactive mastery experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states. 15 Mastery experience was developed by participants' learning strategies to prevent falls and consistently applying these strategies in day-to-day tasks.…”