Action and coping planning condition. Participants in the
ACP condition completed the action planning intervention
(described above) and then formed coping plans for overcoming
3 self-identified LTPA barriers. Participants formed detailed
plans of how they would deal with each identified barrier
(eg, “if unforeseen appointments prevent me from not exercising,
I plan to reschedule the exercise on a different day”). The
researcher recorded each barrier and the corresponding coping
plan on a planning sheet that was subsequently sent to the
participant.9 Similar to the APO condition, participants were
instructed to familiarize themselves with their plans and to post
the plans in a place where they would be able to refer to them
regularly. Also, participants were given a log book to monitor
their LTPA behavior. The duration of the ACP intervention
ranged from 20 to 30 minutes.
Immediately after the planning interventions, the 3 coping
self-efficacy measures were administered. Participants were
then scheduled for their week 5 interview and were e-mailed or
mailed their intervention plans and a log book.
At week 5, all participants completed the LTPA recall and
the intentions measure during a telephone interview. Next, all
participants were asked to update their action plans for the next
5 weeks, and those in the ACP condition also updated their
coping plans. A copy of the revised intervention plans, along
with a log book, was then sent by mail or e-mail. Participants
also completed the 3 coping self-efficacy measures, and the
measures of action planning frequency and health-related
LTPA break.
During the week 10 phone interview, participants were
asked to complete the same measures that were administered
during the week 5 interview (ie, LTPA, intentions, coping
self-efficacy, action planning frequency, health-related break).
In addition, participants in the APO condition were administered
the coping planning manipulation check. Participants
were then read aloud a debriefing script and thanked for their
participation.