UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Pope, Lizzy
Dept./Program:
Animal, Nutrition, and Food Sciences Program
Year:
2013
Degree:
Ph. D.
Abstract:
Background: The majority of first-year college students gain weight over their first year. Only approximately 50% of college students meet physical activity guidelines. As physical activity is an important component of weight maintenance, using innovative strategies to increase physical activity may help first-year students maintain their weight. The primary aim of this study was to increase fitness-center use by first-year college students by employing monetary incentives. A secondary aim of the study was to evaluate changes in Body Mass Index (BMI) across first year.
Design: Randomized-controlled trial with three conditions.
Methods: One-hundred and seventeen first-year college students were randomized to one of three conditions; a control condition which received no incentives for meeting fitness-center use goals, a a discontinued-incentive condition which received weekly monetary incentives for 12 weeks during fall semester, and no incentives during spring semester, or a continued-incentive condition which received weekly incentives during fall semester, and incentives on a variable-interval schedule during spring semester. Electronic ID-card attendance records tracked fitness-center use. Weight and height were recorded at baseline, end of fall semester, beginning of spring semester and end of spring semester. A delay-discounting task was administered at baseline to assess impulsivity. The Exercise Motivation Inventory 2 measured intrinsic/extrinsic motivation and the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) measured liking for exercise at baseline, end of fall semester, and end of spring semester.
Results: Sixty-three percent of incentive-condition participants met the weekly fitness-center use goals in the fall semester compared to only 13% of control-condition participants, a significant difference, p<0.001. In the spring semester, fitness-center goal achievement decreased to 3% of goals met for the discontinued-incentive condition, identical to the control condition. When rewarded on a variable-interval schedule in the spring, the continued-incentive condition met 39% of the goals, a significantly higher goal-completion rate than the discontinued-incentive and control groups, p<0.001. There was no significant change in BMI over time. Delay-discounting was not a significant predictor of fitness-center goal achievement, and intrinsic motivation did not shift significantly over time for any condition. There was a significant interaction between condition and PACES scores, p <0.05, indicating that liking for exercise increased for the incentive conditions and decreased for the control condition over the fall semester.
Conclusions and Implications: Weekly monetary incentives resulted in significantly more first-year students meeting fitness-center use goals. When incentives were discontinued, students no longer met fitness-center attendance goals, but a variable interval reward schedule better maintained attendance. Although all groups experienced some weight gain, this weight gain was not significant. Incentive provision did not undermine intrinsic motivation for exercise, and appears to have increased liking for exercise. Incentives also were an effective motivator for students of all impulsivity levels. Monetary incentives may be an attention-grabbing, efficacious strategy to encourage first-year students to establish and maintain a physical activity habit over their first year of college.
Design: Randomized-controlled trial with three conditions.
Methods: One-hundred and seventeen first-year college students were randomized to one of three conditions; a control condition which received no incentives for meeting fitness-center use goals, a a discontinued-incentive condition which received weekly monetary incentives for 12 weeks during fall semester, and no incentives during spring semester, or a continued-incentive condition which received weekly incentives during fall semester, and incentives on a variable-interval schedule during spring semester. Electronic ID-card attendance records tracked fitness-center use. Weight and height were recorded at baseline, end of fall semester, beginning of spring semester and end of spring semester. A delay-discounting task was administered at baseline to assess impulsivity. The Exercise Motivation Inventory 2 measured intrinsic/extrinsic motivation and the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) measured liking for exercise at baseline, end of fall semester, and end of spring semester.
Results: Sixty-three percent of incentive-condition participants met the weekly fitness-center use goals in the fall semester compared to only 13% of control-condition participants, a significant difference, p<0.001. In the spring semester, fitness-center goal achievement decreased to 3% of goals met for the discontinued-incentive condition, identical to the control condition. When rewarded on a variable-interval schedule in the spring, the continued-incentive condition met 39% of the goals, a significantly higher goal-completion rate than the discontinued-incentive and control groups, p<0.001. There was no significant change in BMI over time. Delay-discounting was not a significant predictor of fitness-center goal achievement, and intrinsic motivation did not shift significantly over time for any condition. There was a significant interaction between condition and PACES scores, p <0.05, indicating that liking for exercise increased for the incentive conditions and decreased for the control condition over the fall semester.
Conclusions and Implications: Weekly monetary incentives resulted in significantly more first-year students meeting fitness-center use goals. When incentives were discontinued, students no longer met fitness-center attendance goals, but a variable interval reward schedule better maintained attendance. Although all groups experienced some weight gain, this weight gain was not significant. Incentive provision did not undermine intrinsic motivation for exercise, and appears to have increased liking for exercise. Incentives also were an effective motivator for students of all impulsivity levels. Monetary incentives may be an attention-grabbing, efficacious strategy to encourage first-year students to establish and maintain a physical activity habit over their first year of college.