Barriers of Physical Activity Adoption and Maintenance

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Sixty percent of Americans do not engage in regular physical activity. Given the importance of physical activity on health (USDHHS, 1996), there is a need to develop effective physical activity interventions and to address barriers that interfere with participation in physical activity. The present study will examine how barriers to physical activity influence the effects of print and telephone interventions on the adoption and maintenance of physical activity. The present study examines barriers to physical activity behavior by administering questionnaires to participants in a NIH-funded study (i.e., Project STRIDE), which compares the efficacy of the following three groups: 1) telephone-based motivationally-tailored individualized feedback; 2) print-based motivationally-tailored individualized feedback; and 3) health/wellness control group (receive full intervention after 12 months as controls). Thirty-two participants completing Project STRIDE will participate in focus groups addressing physical activity barriers. Based on the information obtained from the questionnaires and focus groups, a questionnaire that examines various types of physical activity barriers will be developed. The reliability and validity of the barriers questionnaire will be examined by administering the questionnaire to 100 individuals not participating in project STRIDE. Recent studies indicate that individually tailored interventions are effective for increasing physical activity; however, there is a need for a brief questionnaire that would allow researchers and clinicians to individualize interventions based on self-reported barriers. The present study would enable future studies to test the efficacy of interventions tailored to physical activity barriers.