Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Julie Hicks Patrick

Committee Co-Chair

Kristina Hash

Committee Member

Kristina Hash

Committee Member

Kevin Larkin

Committee Member

Aaron Metzger

Abstract

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends adults to engage in weekly moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity based on its association with various physical and psychological health benefits (HHS, 2008; Schoenborn, Adams, & Peregoy, 2013). These physical activity recommendations contain important information for three physical activity components: intensity, frequency, and duration. The current physical activity literature contains gaps, with a lack of specificity for which components are being studied. Although some of the literature does describe the physical activity components, there are many discrepancies in the level of agreement across subjective and objective measures, along with the same basic analyses being utilized across studies. With data from 56 adults (Mage = 43.2, SD= 16.5), receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were conducted for two weeks’ data to assess the agreement between a one-week recall questionnaire, daily diary accounts, and accelerometer data for the three physical activity components (intensity, frequency, and duration). For intensity and duration of physical activity, the worst agreement existed between the accelerometer and questionnaire, with the area under the curve (AUC) indicating chance agreement at best (AUC = 0.447-0.598); the accelerometer and daily diary measures generally exhibited chance-to-poor agreement (AUC = 0.331-0.671); and the daily diary and questionnaire showed the largest range from chance-to-good agreement (AUC = 0.482-0.794). The strongest agreement was shown for frequency of physical activity, especially for mild-intensity physical activity (AUC = 0.836) at Week 2. Across moderate-to-vigorous-, mild-, and sedentary-intensity behaviors, participants experienced the worst agreement for sedentary behaviors (AUC = 0.331-0.686), with most of the sedentary-specific intensity, frequency, and duration AUC scores showing chance agreement. The current study significantly expands and adds to the literature by focusing on all three physical activity components across moderate-to-vigorous-, mild-, and sedentary-intensity activities, as well as utilizing advanced analyses to assess the agreement between two subjective measures and one objective measure. The findings highlight the importance of educating adults about the physical activity components, different intensities, and methods of tracking and reporting activity.

Download

Share

COinS