The Intersect of Theory, Methods, and Translation in Guiding Interventions for the Promotion of Physical Activity: A Case Example of a Research Programme

Abstract

Physical activity promotion is pivotal for preventing and treating a range of non-communicable diseases and improving overall quality of life. However, over 50% of the Australian population is not adhering to public health guidelines for physical activity. Efficacious theory-based, scalable physical activity behaviour change interventions are required for the Australian population as well as specific target populations across various settings. The primary aim of this article is to make recommendations to researchers and practitioners related to the inter-relationship of theory, methods, and translation, through examples of our interventions targeting physical activity for the prevention of obesity and other health outcomes. This article summarises a number of our Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition's interventions operationalising social-cognitive theories across various settings and population subgroups. We present key issues to consider regarding the intersect of theoretical, methodological, and translational issues in this regard. Future directions to improve theory, methods, and translation are provided.

The ‘Health’ of Health Psychology in Australia: Behavioural Approaches and Interventions

“…Parallel to this, a further set of articles focus on promoting health‐related behaviours with the goal of preventing incidence of these illnesses in the general population. Key preventive behaviours include, tobacco use (Toumbourou, Olsson, Rowland, Renati, & Hallam, ), diabetes prevention (Kavanagh & Cassimatis, ), road accident prevention (Toumbourou et al., ), alcohol reduction (Toumbourou et al., ), reducing sexually transmitted disease (Toumbourou et al., ), physical activity promotion (Plotnikoff, Morgan, Lubans, Rhodes, & Costigan, ; Toumbourou et al., ), and eating a healthy diet (Toumbourou et al., ). These articles reflect priority behaviours that are related to the development of the long‐term conditions prioritised in many developed nations, but also reflect priorities that have a particularly high prevalence in Australia such as diabetes.…”

“…For example, Plotnikoff et al. () recognise the importance of multiple theoretical approaches to address important health conditions in adolescents, and Platt et al () integrate two well‐cited theories and models of health behaviour—the common sense model of illness and the theory of planned behaviour—an endeavour that has been advocated by other researchers (Hagger & Orbell, ; Orbell, Hagger, Brown, & Tidy, ). This integration of theoretical perspectives is important, as the tendency to adhere to one particular theory or approach may often constrain researchers to the tenets of that particular theory rather than focusing on multiple mechanisms and processes that may be salient for multiple behaviours or conditions (Hagger, ; Hagger, Anderson, Kyriakaki, & Darkings, ; Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2009a).…”

“…This more eclectic approach to adopting research methodologies is key to providing converging evidence for particular influences and routes to health behaviour (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2009b). Another focal point of the research being undertaken (and is an important element to health behaviour research in Australia) is the translation of theoretical approaches to understanding health‐related behaviour into interventions, recommendations, and guidance that is likely to lead to changes to health promotion policy and practice (Plotnikoff et al., ; Toumbourou et al., ). Finally, there are attempts to unify different methodological approaches to demonstrate that different research paradigms (e.g., experimental, survey, and qualitative) need not be in opposition but can be complimentary (Mullan et al., ; Toumbourou et al., ).…”

“…In moving forward, it is important to recognise and address the training crisis of health psychologyin this country (Martin et al., ), as well as recognise and address the potential identity issue of health psychology as a discipline and health psychologists as specialised trained professionals. It is notable that many approaches using “health psychology” go under other guises and do not necessarily identify themselves with the moniker “health psychology” such as psycho‐oncology (Chambers et al., ) and behavioural interventions (Plotnikoff et al., ). Thus, a way forward to instil such an identity is for health psychologists and those adopting identical approaches under different titles to come together as a collective and bring these individuals into the fold in organisations like the APS College of Health Psychologists and also the Australasian Society for Behavioural Health Medicine.…”

Use of Multiple Research Methods to Specify Mechanisms Regulating Health‐Related Behaviour Patterns and Identify Techniques Capable of Changing those Mechanisms

“…So physical activity promotion may be an area where health psychology practitioners could demonstrate their worth. Plotnikoff et al (2014) offer useful advice to researchers and practitioners working in this area. I was interested in these authors' comments on the application of theory and agree strongly that, "the choice of a particular theory or theories for guiding interventions design should be evidence based for the specific targeted population" (Plotnikoff et al,p.…”