Stages of change and physical activity among individuals with severe mental illness

To apply the constructs of the transtheoretical model (TTM) of change to understand physical activity among individuals with severe mental illness.

Predictions of stages of change of physical activity and self-reported physical activity were investigated among 92 adults with severe mental illness, using cognitive and behavioral processes of change, self-efficacy, and perceived pros and cons of exercise as predictors.

Separate logistic regression analyses for adjacent pairs of stages indicated that 33% of the variance was accounted for when predicting preparation versus action/maintenance stages, with behavioral processes making a significant unique contribution to prediction. A multiple-regression analysis was conducted to examine prediction of self-reported physical activity on the basis of all of the TTM measures, and the full model accounted for nearly 27% of the variance.

Results suggest that TTM constructs hold promise in understanding physical activity of people with severe mental illness with significant implications for clinical practice and future research.