The Motivational Impact of Wearable Healthy Lifestyle Technologies: A Self-determination Perspective on Fitbits With Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Considerable numbers of young people are not meeting physical activity guidelines. Wearable fitness devices can provide opportunities for physical activity promotion. Purpose: The aim of the study was to explore whether wearable healthy lifestyle technologies impacted on adolescents' (13-to 14-year-olds) motivation for physical activity. Methods: The study was a mixed method sequential design. Participants were 84 adolescents (44 girls, 40 boys) from 6 physical education classes. Pupils were issued with a Fitbit to wear for 8 weeks and completed pre-/posttest questionnaires that assessed motivational regulation and psychological need satisfaction. Adolescents also engaged in focus group interviews after wearing the Fitbit for 8 weeks. Quantitative data were analyzed using a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to explore differences between gender and time. Qualitative data analysis was conducted deductively using self-determination theory. Results: The quantitative findings identified significant reductions in need satisfaction and autonomous motivation and significant increases in amotivation after 8 weeks. Qualitative evidence suggested short-term increases in motivation through feelings of competition, guilt, and internal pressure. Discussion: Findings suggest that healthy lifestyle technology may have negative motivational consequences. Translation to Health Education Practice: Certified Health Education Specialists should support young people to personalize health targets in order to critically engage with normalized health targets.

Young people’s uses of wearable healthy lifestyle technologies; surveillance, self-surveillance and resistance

“…Further, while a non-commercial app resulted in weight reduction and improvements to motivation, other nonrandomized interventions report no significant differences in diet/nutrition and/or physical activity behaviours (Dute et al, 2016). In our own study, reductions in motivation were reported, alongside feelings of guilt and internal pressure (Kerner & Goodyear, 2017). Similarly, Depper and Howe's (2017) concluded that apps reinforced narrow understanding of health that was related to fitness and slenderness in adolescent girls.…”

“…This data was, therefore, not included. For further information, please see Kerner and Goodyear (2017).…”

Ways of improving the students’ physical education

“…In order to make the physical exercises an integral part of the graduate's life, it is necessary to form an understanding of the role of physical activity for selfimprovement and health during his studentship, as well as conscious motives for these exercises and the ability to carry out sports activities on a standalone basis [7,8,9,10]. To this end, the curriculum includes hours for lecture classes in the course of which students are taught theoretical and methodological material on the subject with the most complete amount of information about the physiological effects of systematic classes; how the motion loads are optimized depending on the physical condition of the trainee, his level of health, personal tasks and other factors; about the fundamental laws the implementation of which allows to properly plan the process of preparation to achieve the resultsvictories in competitions, body shaping, increasing efficiency and health.…”

A Neural Network Based Algorithm for Dynamically Adjusting Activity Targets to Sustain Exercise Engagement Among People Using Activity Trackers

“…Recent study concludes that activity tracker users feel unmotivated despite having an awareness of benefits of physical activity [27]. Users can become demotivated if they cannot meet their activity goals [28].…”