BACKGROUND: The construct of intention continues to be an important correlate and predictor of physical activity; however, a substantial intention behaviour gap continues to exist. Little literature has examined this gap on a micro-temporal scale, and none have addressed the adolescent population. PURPOSE: The purpose of this thesis is to 1) examine whether there are variations in daily and within day intentions to be physically active in the adolescent population, and 2) whether the intention -physical activity gap is reduced when assessing intention and behaviour on a micro-temporal scale using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). METHODS: This thesis sample included 193 grade 11 students from a large school board in Southern Ontario. Participants responded to 5 EMA prompts for 7 days on their smartphones and wore accelerometers for the duration of the study. Each EMA prompt included a brief questionnaire assessing participant intentions to engage in physical activity. A mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to determine variability in intentions and descriptive analyses were used to examine the intention - behaviour gap. RESULTS: A mixed-effects logistic regression did not indicate differences in intentions between days of the week (coef. = -0.07 SE: 0.07, p=.27) but did indicate that likelihood of reporting intentions significantly decreases over the course of the day (coef. = -.479 SE=.05, p<.01). For daily intentions and physical activity, 89% of daily intenders engaged in subsequent physical activity while 46% of within day intenders engaged in subsequent physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that there is some variation in intentions and that a micro-temporal time scale measurement serves to reduce the intention - behaviour gap. This adds to our understanding of the relationship between intentions and physical activity. In better understanding this relationship, we can begin to guide interventions that bridge the gap between intentions and physical activity in the adolescent population. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Despite the known benefits of physical activity, rates remain low amongst adolescents. Previous research has outlined the importance of intentions as a predictor of physical activity; however, an intention behaviour gap persists. The current study examined this gap by assessing variation in intentions over the course of the week and day, and by examining intentions and physical activity closer together in time through the use of a smartphone app. Significant variation was found in intentions within the day to engage in activity. Descriptively assessing intentions and physical activity by measuring them closer together in time indicated a reduction in the daily intention behaviour gap but no significant differences between intentions and behaviour measured frequently within a day. Findings suggest that the intention to behaviour gap may be reduced by assessing intentions and behaviour more frequently and closer together in time. Further research is required to quantify this reduction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/25936 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Dutta, Pallavi |
| Contributors | Kwan, Matthew, eHealth |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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