The Effect of an Acute Sedentary Behaviour Reducing Intervention on Subjective Well-Being among University Students: A Pilot Randomized Trial

Wuyou Sui,Harry Prapavessis

doi:10.5334/hpb.29

Abstract

Background: The effect of sedentary behaviour (SB) on subjective well-being (SWB), particularly through a SB-reducing intervention largely remains unknown. This pilot trial examined whether an acute intervention designed to reduce SB would enhance SWB in a sample of university students.Methods: A three-week (i.e., baseline, intervention, follow-up) randomized controlled pilot trial was conducted. Thirty-two sedentary university students were randomized to an acute behavioural counseling intervention (n = 17) or control group (n = 15). Behavioural counseling grounded in the health action process approach aimed at reducing daily SB for 1 week. Device-measured outcomes (i.e., steps, standing, sitting, sit-to-stand transitions), self-reported SBs (i.e., self-compared, domain-specific), and SWB measures (i.e., affect, life satisfaction, subjective vitality, overall SWB) were assessed weekly.Results: Repeated-measures ANOVAs revealed non-significant medium-to-large effects for self-reported SBs (i.e., 0.116 ≤ ηp2 ≤ 0.253), device-measured standing time (i.e., ηp2 = 0.161), and life satisfaction and overall SWB (i.e., 0.141 ≤ ηp2 ≤ 0.178) favouring the treatment group over the control group.Conclusions: Overall, this acute intervention was ineffective in reducing SB among university students. Comparatived to previous acute SB-inducing interventions, results suggest that SB-reducing interventions may require more robust treatment application than the current pilot study. Strategies such as prompts/cues, repeated intervention delivery, and longer intervention periods are recommended. Strategies that promote larger non-convenient sampling (e.g., longer recruitment periods) also are recommended. Taken together, these strategies will increase treatment effects and statistical power of subsequent intervention trials.

Highlights

Sedentary behavior (SB) describes any behavior that is (i) waking, (ii) has an energy expenditure of ≤1.5 metabolic equivalents, and (iii) is performed in a sitting, lying, or reclining posture (Tremblay et al, 2017), and encompass the vast majority of behaviors performed in nearly every domain of daily life
Given that most individuals spend the bulk of their waking time engaged in sedentary behaviour (SB) (Colley et al, 2011), particular focus has been devoted to studies investigating the health consequences of excessive SB, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, some cancers, and all-cause mortality (De Rezende et al, 2014)
Subjective well-being, as defined by Diener et al, is “a broad category of phenomena that includes people’s emotional responses, domain satisfactions, and global judgements of life satisfaction”, which is assessed through outcomes of affect and life satisfaction (1999)

Summary

Introduction

Sedentary behavior (SB) describes any behavior that is (i) waking, (ii) has an energy expenditure of ≤1.5 metabolic equivalents, and (iii) is performed in a sitting, lying, or reclining posture (Tremblay et al, 2017), and encompass the vast majority of behaviors performed in nearly every domain of daily life. Subjective well-being, as defined by Diener et al, is “a broad category of phenomena that includes people’s emotional responses, domain satisfactions, and global judgements of life satisfaction”, which is assessed through outcomes of affect (positive and negative) and life satisfaction (1999). This operationalization of SWB by Diener et al (1999), is considered hedonic well-being, whereby optimal SWB is attained through maximizing happiness (Ryan & Deci, 2001). This pilot trial examined whether an acute intervention designed to reduce SB would enhance SWB in a sample of university students

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion