A Combined Health Action Process Approach and mHealth Intervention to Increase Non‐Sedentary Behaviours in Office‐Working Adults—A Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Office-working adults represent an at-risk population for high levels of sedentary behaviour (SB), which has been associated with an increased risk for numerous chronic diseases. This study examined the effectiveness of a Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) based planning intervention augmented with tailored text messages to reduce workplace sitting time (primary outcome) and increase specific non-SBs (i.e. standing time, walking time, stretching time, break frequency, break duration). A secondary purpose was to examine relationships among HAPA volitional constructs and sedentary and non-SBs. Methods: Full-time office workers (M age = 45.18 AE 11.33 years) from Canada were randomised into either a HAPA intervention (n = 29) or control (n = 31) condition. Workplace sitting time, time spent in specific non-SBs, and HAPA volitional constructs were assessed at baseline, weeks 2, 4, 6 (post-intervention), and 8 (follow-up). Results: Significant group by time interaction effects, that favoured the intervention group, were found for sitting time (p = .003, ɳ p 2 = .07), standing time (p = .019, ɳ p 2 = .05), and stretching time (p = .001, ɳ p 2 = .08) as well as for action planning (p < .001, ɳ p 2 = .20), coping planning (p < .001, ɳ p 2 = .18), and action control (p < .001, ɳ p 2 = .15). Significant correlations (p < .05) were also found between the HAPA constructs and time spent sitting, standing, walking, as well as break frequency. Conclusions: Augmenting a HAPA-based planning intervention with text messages can reduce workplace sitting time in office workers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03461926.

Using the health action process approach to predict facemask use and hand washing in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in China

“…Mobile health intervention might be useful means to prompt individuals perform health behaviors. These self-regulation-based interventions effectively improved other health behaviors (Poppe et al, 2019 ; Rollo & Prapavessis, 2020 ). Future research can confirm the potential of these interventions in promoting facemask wearing and hand washing.…”

Which behaviour change techniques are effective to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour in adults: a factorial randomized trial of an e- and m-health intervention

“…The HAPA model is frequently used for the promotion of PA [15,21,23] in both clinical [24,25] and non-clinical populations. The model is generic and flexible, and can easily be applied to several behaviours [26] such as dietary behaviour [19,26], sunscreen use [27], and sedentary behaviour [28][29][30]. Therefore we chose to focus on the BCTs 'action planning', 'coping planning' and 'self-monitoring' for both PA and SB.…”

A theory-grounded text message–based intervention to reduce sedentary behaviour in university students

“…The literature supports the notion that sedentary behaviour and physical activity are distinct, interdependent constructs, and our findings further highlight the need to understand the applicability of behaviour change theories to sedentary behaviour (Rhodes et al, 2012). Although some previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of a HAPA planning intervention in addressing sedentary behaviour (Rollo and Prapavessis, 2020), it is possible the HAPA model may be more amenable to beginning new behaviours rather than ceasing problematic behaviours. For instance, interventions promoting physical activity participation target starting a new behaviour, while the reduction of sedentary behaviour requires individuals to stop engaging in potentially harmful behaviour very much 'baked in' to contemporary society, and may require environmental or institution-level interventions in addition to targeting change at the individual level.…”