Collaborative, dyadic, and individual planning and physical activity: A dyadic randomized controlled trial

This study was designed to investigate the effects of collaborative, dyadic, and individual planning on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in target person-partner dyads. Individual planning reflects an "I-for-me" planning of one person's behavior. Collaborative planning refers to joint planning of both dyad members' behavior ("We-for-us" planning), and dyadic planning refers to joint planning of only the target person's behavior ("We-for-me" planning).

N = 320 dyads of target persons (M age: 43.86 years old) and partners (M age: 42.32 years old) participated in a randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov registration no. NCT03011385) with three experimental planning conditions (collaborative, dyadic, or individual planning) and an active control condition (physical activity, sedentary behavior, and nutrition education). Target persons did not meet international MVPA guidelines or were recommended to increase their MVPA due to cardiovascular disease or type II diabetes. MVPA was measured with ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers at baseline, 1-week follow-up, and 36-week follow-up (6 months after the final intervention session; the primary endpoint). Linear mixed models were fit for target persons and partners separately.

At 1-week follow-up, there were no significant Time × Condition interaction effects among target persons and partners. At 36-week follow-up, target persons and partners in the dyadic planning conditions increased their MVPA, compared to the control condition.

Individuals with insufficient physical activity or with a cardiovascular disease/type II diabetes and their partners may benefit from dyadic planning, which is a promising strategy to achieve physical activity increases. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).