An 8-Week Study on Social-Cognitive Variables for Physical Activity and Fruit and Vegetable Intake: Are there Stage Transitions?

BACKGROUND Health behavior change can be modelled in terms of stages, and outcomes of transitions between stages can be categorized into progression, regression, and stagnation. Based on the Health Action Process Approach this study tested whether changes in social-cognitive variables are associated with transitions between stages regarding physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable intake (FVI). METHODS N = 132 participants (M = 50.86 years, SD = 13.17, 61.4% women) were assessed at baseline and 8 weeks later. Data were analysed using multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) and post-hoc comparisons. RESULTS Changes in motivational self-efficacy (η2  = 0.081), maintenance self-efficacy (η2  = 0.119), and recovery self-efficacy (η2  = 0.049) as well as positive outcome expectancies (η2  = 0.070), negative outcome expectancies (η2  = 0.055), and coping planning (η2  = 0.065) were associated with FVI stage progression. For PA, changes were not associated with stage progression. CONCLUSION To facilitate behavior change effectively, at least for FVI, it is essential to consider underlying mechanisms such as several aspects of self-efficacy in performing the desired health behaviors, outcome expectations, and planning how to overcome barriers. Additionally, the adoption of a stage approach may be a useful starting point to develop stage-matched interventions.