Development of a tool for diagnosing changes in concern about exercise: a means of enhancing compliance

Attrition is a problem in exercise programs. This may be due to the existence of stages in the process of acquiring new exercise behaviors. The Stages of Concern for Exercise (SOCE) scale was adapted from an educational innovations tool to examine exercise behavior. Content validity was established using a panel of judges. Alpha reliability coefficients calculated for the seven subscales or stages of concern were: .50 (Indifference), .78 (Informational), .77 (Personal), .82 (Management), .77 (Consequences), .81 (Collaboration), .65 (Refocusing). Two hundred fourteen subjects were recruited during the screening phase of a comprehensive work site health program. Relationships between scores on the SOCE and self-reports of minutes of exercise, history of exercise, enrollment in an exercise program, and ratings of expertise at exercise provide tentative validity.