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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Psychol Sport Exerc. 2011 Jan 1;12(1):46–53. doi: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.04.012

Table 1.

Matching specific intervention strategies to proposed theoretical mediators of physical activity change.

Proposed Mediator Intervention Strategies
Access to Resources

  • Provide membership to fitness facility within participant meso environment (i.e., path to and from work) or other convenient location
Awareness of existing resources

  • Identify local parks and trails in close proximity to primary micro environments (i.e., home & work)

  • Review possible home exercise resources that are affordable or exist within the home

  • Identify possible resources at the workplace to support PA (e.g., onsite exercise room or programs)
Perceived severity
  • Physician, health educator, or peer model delivered information on potential of physical inactivity to have substantial negative outcomes related to:
    • ◯
      Personal health (e.g., continued inactivity could lead to death)
    • ◯
      Social relationships (e.g., a debilitating heart attack will leave one's family financially compromised)
    • ◯
      Quality of life (e.g., loss of independence and control).
Perceived vulnerability
  • Physician, health educator, or peer model delivered information on the personal susceptibility of the potential of unwanted health, social, and quality of life outcomes as a result of continued physical inactivity.
    • ◯
      Include information on samples of patients similar to the participant (e.g.. people who pass the stress test are still at high risk for mortality)
    • ◯
      Dismissing negative stress test as the sole indicator of personal risk reduction.
Rewards for Inactivity
  • Cognitive restructuring
    • ◯
      Identify rewards for competing behaviors that are physically inactive (e.g.. stress relief, relaxation)
    • ◯
      Allow individuals the option of selecting a number of physical activities that also produce the same rewards (e.g., stress relief and relaxation)
    • ◯
      Make reward link for physical activity explicit.
Self-efficacy

  • Verbal persuasion

  • Vicarious learning

  • Feedback on performance success

  • Barrier identification and resolution

  • Graded physical activity goals
Response-efficacy
  • Physician, health educator, or peer model delivered information on the risk avoidance benefits of PA related to:
    • ◯
      Personal health (e.g., regular PA reduce risk of premature death)
    • ◯
      Social relationships (e.g., regular PA can reduce the risk of a debilitating heart attack and allow one to continue to provide for his/her family)
    • ◯
      Quality of life (e.g., regular PA will alleviate the risk of losing of independence and control).
Response-cost
  • Physician, health educator, or peer model delivered information on the:
    • ◯
      Likely barriers to regular PA that will be encountered.
    • ◯
      Effective strategies for overcoming these barriers.
Intention

  • Assistance to develop appropriate goals for PA

  • Facilitated personal action planning

  • Goal setting and feedback loop