Age and sex differences in prospective effects of health goals and motivations on daily leisure-time physical activity

作者：Gallagher Patrick^*; Yancy William S Jr; Swartout Kevin; Denissen Jaap J A; Kuehnel Anja; Voils Corrine I

来源：Preventive Medicine, 2012, 55(4): 322-324.

DOI：10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.07.017

• Approach/avoidance
• Goals
• Leisure-time physical activity
• Motivation
• Self-determination theory

Objective: To examine relationships between health goals, types of motivation for those goals, and daily leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), and whether. these relationships differ by age or sex. %26lt;br%26gt;Methods: From 2005 to 2008, 710 participants in and around Berlin. Germany provided life goals and motivational attributes of those goals at baseline, then reported LTPA daily for 25 days. %26lt;br%26gt;Results: Having (vs. not having) a goal of physical health predicted higher odds of engaging in LTPA for younger but not older participants (under age 30; OR = 1.26, p = 0.048), and was not related to duration of LTPA episodes. Effect of intrinsic motivation for the health goal differed by sex: for females, higher intrinsic motivation predicted higher odds of LTPA (OR = 1.19, p = 0.001), but was not related to duration. For males, higher intrinsic motivation predicted lower LTPA odds marginally (OR = 0.70, p = 0.054) but predicted longer duration (estimate = 18.27 min, p%26lt;0.001). More approach motivation for the health goal predicted longer duration of LTPA episodes (0.67 min, p = 0.022). %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions: One size does not fit all in LTPA intervention design. Future research should identify the mechanisms by which health goals and motivations affect health behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc.