Maintaining exercise involvement: the role of learned resourcefulness in process of change use

Abstract

Abstract Objectives : To investigate whether learned resourcefulness, an individual difference variable, was related to spontaneous process of change use over a 6 month period in a sample of newly enrolled fitness centre members. Method : Participants were 104 adults (56 women, mean age=29 years; 48 men, mean age=31.5 years) who at baseline were in the preparation stage according to the transtheoretical model (TTM). Participants completed paper and pencil questionnaires pertaining to learned resourcefulness, stage of change, and processes of change (POC) use at one or more time points (baseline, 1, 3, and/or 6 months into their exercise involvement). Results : Multilevel modelling analyses revealed that most of the variability in POC use was idiosyncratic and was explained by differential use of specific processes. Learned resourcefulness subscales accounted for more of the nomothetic variance in POC use than did stage of change. Conclusions : POC use can be predicted by baseline levels of learned resourcefulness. Persons with stronger self-regulatory capacity use more POCs across time, implying that they ‘try harder’ when attempting to maintain exercise involvement. Implications for intervention design and implementation include seeking increases in self-regulatory capacity and problem-solving skills to facilitate POC use and in turn promote exercise stage advancement. Present results highlight the need for continued examination of individual self-regulatory attributes that may contribute to the process of successful exercise behaviour change.