Health versus appearance messages, self‐monitoring and pregnant women’s intentions to exercise postpartum

Abstract

Despite the confirmed health benefits of exercise during the postpartum period, many new mothers are not sufficiently active. The present research compared the effectiveness of two types of messages (health versus appearance) and the moderating role of self‐monitoring (SM) on attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and intention to exercise after giving birth in two groups of pregnant women (low and high self‐monitors). Participants were 218 pregnant women, 18 years of age and older (M age = 27.9 years, SD = 5.47), in their second or third trimester. Women completed a demographics questionnaire and a SM scale. They next read one of two brochures, describing either the health or appearance benefits of exercise for postpartum women, and then completed measures of attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and intentions to exercise postpartum. A MANOVA found no significant effect (all p’s>0.05) for message type, SM, or their interaction. Possible reasons include the fact that the two messages may have been too similar, reading any message about exercise may result in more positive beliefs related to exercise, or a lack of attention given to the brochure.