Activity Adequacy Mindsets Clinical Trial
Official title:
Harnessing Mindset in 21st Century Healthcare: Leveraging Mindset in Health Technology
It is widely known that physical activity is important for health and wellbeing, yet most Americans do not meet recommended levels of activity. People may commonly believe that only the actual amount of physical activity matters for health and wellbeing. However, the investigators propose that individuals' mindsets about the adequacy of their level of physical activity and its corresponding health consequences (activity adequacy mindsets) affect health outcomes, over and above their actual level of physical activity. In recent years, health technologies such as wearable fitness trackers have become popular tools to promote higher levels of physical activity. This study leverages the tracking and feedback capabilities of Apple Watch to study the effects of mindsets about physical activity on health and wellbeing, as well as the pathways through which these effects may occur.
Study Overview: This study examines how individuals' mindsets about the adequacy of their
level of physical activity and its corresponding health consequences (activity adequacy
mindsets) affect health outcomes. Participants attend an "onboarding" lab session in which
they complete physiological, cognitive, and psychological measures and receive an Apple Watch
to wear for the following 5 weeks. The Watch is equipped with a step count tracking app. No
step count feedback is provided in week 1 as a baseline; starting in week 2, participants are
randomized to 4 conditions in which either 1) accurate, 2) inflated, or 3) deflated step
count is displayed on the watch in order to manipulate participants' perceived physical
activity, independently of their actual physical activity. In condition 4, participants
receive a meta-mindset intervention in addition to accurate step count feedback. Throughout
the 5 weeks, participants complete short daily surveys and longer weekly surveys administered
online. Finally, participants come in for an "offboarding" lab session in which the same
measures are collected as in the onboarding session.
Participants: Participants will be 160 healthy adults recruited from the community, 40 per
condition.
Main Hypotheses: This is a largely exploratory study, examining various mechanisms through
which activity adequacy mindsets may affect health and wellbeing. Tests include (but are not
limited to) the following key hypotheses:
H1) Inflated step count feedback (compared to accurate feedback) leads to a more positive
activity adequacy mindset, and deflated feedback (compared to accurate feedback) leads to a
more negative activity adequacy mindset (see Primary Outcome Measures).
H2) Activity adequacy mindset influences health and wellbeing (see Primary Outcome Measures)
over and above actual physical activity.
H3) Activity adequacy mindset influences health and wellbeing through various mechanisms (see
Secondary Outcome Measures):
H3a) Affective mechanism: A more positive (vs. negative) activity adequacy mindset leads to
more positive everyday affect (incl. higher satisfaction, lower anxiety, lower stress).
Positive affect in turn improves health and wellbeing.
H3b) Motivational/ behavioral mechanism: A more positive (vs. negative) activity adequacy
mindset leads to higher motivation to exercise and improve one's health, as well as higher
exercise self-efficacy. Higher motivation and self-efficacy in turn lead to higher levels of
actual physical activity, which in turn improve health and wellbeing.
H3c) Placebo mechanism: A more positive (vs. negative) activity adequacy mindset directly
improves health and wellbeing through placebo/ nocebo effects.
H4) A meta-mindset intervention teaching people about activity adequacy mindsets leads them
to adopt more positive mindsets, which in turn predicts improved health and wellbeing through
the mechanisms described under H3. That is, compared to accurate step count feedback only,
accurate feedback plus meta-mindset intervention leads to improved health and wellbeing.
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