Abstract
PURPOSE: Physical activity (PA) has numerous mental and physical health benefits; however, many college students do not engage in enough PA to garner these benefits. PA interventions based upon behavior change that addresses motivation hold promise. Thus, we examined if a combination of motivational enhancement therapy (MET, a counseling intervention seeking to increase intrinsic motivation to change) and contingency management (CM, a behavioral intervention providing extrinsic motivation for completion of target behaviors) increased students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to start and maintain a PA program over 2 months. METHODS: Sedentary participants (n=12 men, n=18 women) were randomized into one of two interventions: 1) MET+CM consisting of two sessions of MET spaced one month apart and weekly CM sessions in which weekly PA contracts were completed and verified PA from prior contracts was reinforced; and 2) MET + Activity Contracting (AC) consisting of the same two sessions of MET and the same weekly PA contracts with no reinforcement. Demographic information, Extrinsic Motivation Index (EMI), Intrinsic Motivation Index (IMI), and a health/ fitness battery were completed at baseline and 2 months. MANCOVA tested changes in total EMI and IMI scores from baseline and 2-months with gender, grade point average (GPA), body mass index (BMI), and number of physical activity activities completed on the PA contracts as covariates. RESULTS: Participants were 19.74±1.6 yr, normal weight (BMI=24.57±3.12 kg/m2), and reported a GPA of 3.4±0.5. MET+CM and MET+AC did not differ significantly in the number of PA activities completed via the PA contracts over 2 months (17±6.9 activities) (p>0.05). MANCOVA revealed a trend for the main effect of the intervention group (p = 0.129). Subsequent univariate analyses found significant differences in IMI change scores between the MET+CM and MET+AC groups with IMI scores increasing over 2 months by 14.5±4.2 and 1.0±4.4 points, respectively (p <0.05). No significant changes in EMI scores were detected between the intervention groups (p > 0.05). Discussion: MET+CM appears effective in increasing participants' intrinsic motivation in comparison to MET+AC. Results are encouraging as intrinsic motivation is critical for long-term PA adherence. Supported by: NIH R21-AA017717
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