The Importance of Self-Monitoring for Behavior Change in Youth: Findings from the SWITCH® School Wellness Feasibility Study
by
Gabriella M. McLoughlin 1,*
,
Richard R. Rosenkranz 2,
Joey A. Lee 3,
Maren M. Wolff 4,
Senlin Chen 5,
David A. Dzewaltowski 6,
Spyridoula Vazou 1,
Lorraine Lanningham-Foster 4,
Douglas A. Gentile 7,
Marisa S. Rosen 6 and
Gregory J. Welk 1
Gabriella M. McLoughlin 1,*,
Richard R. Rosenkranz 2,
Joey A. Lee 3,
Maren M. Wolff 4,
Senlin Chen 5,
David A. Dzewaltowski 6,
Spyridoula Vazou 1,
Lorraine Lanningham-Foster 4,
Douglas A. Gentile 7,
Marisa S. Rosen 6 and
Gregory J. Welk 1
1
Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
2
Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics & Health, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
3
Helen & Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO 80918, USA
4
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
5
School of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
6
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-4365, USA
7
Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(20), 3806; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16203806
Received: 29 August 2019 / Revised: 22 September 2019 / Accepted: 2 October 2019 / Published: 10 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Dietary Interventions and Tracking Using Technology)
School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health (SWITCH®) is a school wellness implementation initiative focused on building capacity for schools to plan and coordinate wellness programming. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), the purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of the web-based, self-regulation system on physical activity (PA) behavior outcomes. At pre-test and post-test, students in SWITCH® schools (n = 8) completed the online Youth Activity Profile (YAP) to assess PA and sedentary behavior (SB). Students (n = 513) were categorized into high or low self-monitoring groups (using a median split) based on their use of the web-based self-regulation platform. Linear mixed models were used to assess differences in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary behavior, with school, classroom, student, time-by-school, and time-by-classroom random effects and main and interaction fixed effects for student self-monitoring, gender, and time. Significant self-monitoring-by-time interactions were observed for estimates of PA F(1, 477) = 5.55, p = 0.02 and SB F(1, 477) = 4.90, p = 0.03. Students in the high self-monitoring group had larger gains in PA per day and larger declines in hours per day of sedentary screen time behavior compared to students in the low self-monitoring group. These findings support the utility of web-based self-regulation for facilitating PA change in youth.
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Keywords:
dissemination and implementation; health promotion; obesity prevention; physical activity; school wellness; sedentary behavior
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MDPI and ACS Style
McLoughlin, G.M.; Rosenkranz, R.R.; Lee, J.A.; Wolff, M.M.; Chen, S.; Dzewaltowski, D.A.; Vazou, S.; Lanningham-Foster, L.; Gentile, D.A.; Rosen, M.S.; Welk, G.J. The Importance of Self-Monitoring for Behavior Change in Youth: Findings from the SWITCH® School Wellness Feasibility Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 3806.
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