The contribution and interplay of implicit and explicit processes on physical activity behavior: empirical testing of the physical activity adoption and maintenance (PAAM) model

Darko Jekauc; Ceren Gürdere; Chris Englert; Tilo Strobach; Gioia Bottesi; Steven Bray; Denver Brown; Lena Fleig; Marta Ghisi; Jeffrey Graham; Mary Martinasek; Nauris Tamulevicius; Ines Pfeffer

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-18589-5

The contribution and interplay of implicit and explicit processes on physical activity behavior: empirical testing of the physical activity adoption and maintenance (PAAM) model

BMC Public Health. 2024 May 6;24(1):1239. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18589-5.

Authors

Darko Jekauc¹, Ceren Gürdere², Chris Englert³, Tilo Strobach⁴, Gioia Bottesi^{5

6}, Steven Bray⁷, Denver Brown⁸, Lena Fleig⁹, Marta Ghisi⁵, Jeffrey Graham¹⁰, Mary Martinasek¹¹, Nauris Tamulevicius¹¹, Ines Pfeffer⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany. darko.jekauc@kit.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
³ Institute of Sports Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
⁴ Medical School Hamburg, Institute of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ICAN), Hamburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
⁶ U.O.C. Hospital Psychology, University-Hospital of Padova, Padova, Italy.
⁷ Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
⁸ Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA.
⁹ Medical School Berlin, Department of Psychology, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.
¹¹ Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance, The University of Tampa, Tampa, USA.

Abstract

The adoption and maintenance of physical activity (PA) is an important health behavior. This paper presents the first comprehensive empirical test of the Physical Activity Adoption and Maintenance (PAAM) model, which proposes that a combination of explicit (e.g., intention) and implicit (e.g., habit,, affect) self-regulatory processes is involved in PA adoption and maintenance. Data were collected via online questionnaires in English, German, and Italian at two measurement points four weeks apart. The study included 422 participants (M_age= 25.3, SD_age= 10.1; 74.2% women) from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, and the U.S. The study results largely supported the assumptions of the PAAM model, indicating that intentions and habits significantly mediate the effects of past PA on future PA. In addition, the effect of past PA on future PA was shown to be significant through a mediation chain involving affect and habit. Although the hypothesis that trait self-regulation moderates the intention-behavior relationship was not supported, a significant moderating effect of affect on the same relationship was observed. The results suggest that interventions targeting both explicit and implicit processes may be effective in promoting PA adoption and maintenance.

Keywords: Affect; Executive functions; Habit; Intention; Physical activity; Self-regulation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Exercise* / psychology
Female
Health Behavior*
Humans
Intention*
Male
Middle Aged
Models, Psychological
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult