Psychology of Sport and Exercise 14 (2013) 50e56
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Does domain-specific time perspective predict accelerometer assessed physical activity? An examination of ecological moderators Peter A. Hall a, *, Lynette Epp b a b
University of Waterloo, Canada University of Saskatchewan, Canada
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 15 April 2012 Received in revised form 5 July 2012 Accepted 5 July 2012 Available online 24 July 2012
Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to examine the association between time perspective (domain-general or domain-specific) and accelerometer-assessed physical activity behavior in ecological conditions (i.e., ambient temperature and precipitation levels) that vary in the implementational opportunities that they provide. Design: Prospective observational study. Methods: The study sample consisted of 208 community dwelling residents, free of functional impairments, stratified by age. Physical activity was assessed using a hip mounted tri-axial accelerometer worn during waking hours for 7 consecutive days. Participants completed the time perspective questionnaire, exercise version (TPQ-E) at baseline, to assess tendencies toward present versus future-oriented thinking about physical activity behavior. Ecological support for physical activity was assessed as average weekly temperature and precipitation patterns for the week that the accelerometer was worn by each participant. Results: Findings revealed main effects of both temperature and time perspective on accelerometerassessed physical activity. Most importantly, there was also a significant two way interaction between domain-specific time perspective and temperature, such that future-oriented individuals were more likely to increase their activity level when temperatures were warmer (and therefore more activitysupportive) than their less future-oriented counterparts. Precipitation level was not associated with activity level alone or in combination with time perspective. Conclusions: The effect of domain specific-time perspective on accelerometer assessed physical activity is moderated by ambient temperature. In the current study, present and future-oriented participants were active at similar levels when temperatures were cool; when conditions were warmer (i.e., more supportive of physical activity) those with more future-oriented time perspectives were more active than their present-oriented counterparts. These effects were invariant by age group. Crown Copyright Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Ecological factors are increasingly viewed as important determinants of health protective behaviors (Sallis, Owen, & Fisher, 2008). In the case of physical activity, much of the research focus has been on facets of the built environment (i.e., neighborhood and city structure) that might influence day-to-day and week-to-week activity patterns. For example, highly walkable and interconnected neighborhoods are associated with higher levels of self-reported physical activity than those that are less walkable and less connected (Frank, Schmid, Sallis, Chapman, & Saelens, 2004). These findings have in large part been responsible for
* Corresponding author. Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Room 3028, Burt Matthews Hall, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada. Tel.: þ1 519 888 4567x38110. E-mail address:
[email protected] (P.A. Hall).
motivating the “active living” initiative in community design and urban planning more generally (Frank & Kavage, 2008; Sallis et al., 2006). Broadly speaking, however, ecological factors include not only physical environment characteristics but also seasonal and daily weather patterns (Chan & Ryan, 2009). Typically studies have reported higher activity levels during warmer than colder months (Hamilton, Clemes, & Griffiths, 2008; Matthews et al., 2001; Merchant, Dehghan, & Akthar-Danesh, 2007), though this pattern is not always evident in climates that have little seasonal variation in temperature (Badland, Christian, Giles-Corti, & Knuiman, 2011; McGinn, Evenson, Herring, & Huston, 2007). The variability in seasonal findings has lead many researchers to conclude that daily and weekly temperatures are more relevant than seasons per se. Indeed, several studies have confirmed that warmer day-to-day temperatures are associated with higher levels of physical activity
1469-0292/$ e see front matter Crown Copyright Ó 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.07.003
P.A. Hall, L. Epp / Psychology of Sport and Exercise 14 (2013) 50e56
(Belanger, Gray-Donald, O’Loughlin, Paradis & Hanley, 2009; Chan, Ryan, & Tudor-Locke, 2006; Duncan, Hopkins, Schofield, & Duncan, 2008; Feinglass et al., 2011; Humpel, Owen, & Leslie, 2002; Sumukadas, Witham, Struthers, & McMurdo, 2009). There have, however, been some null findings (King et al., 2000; Sallis, Hovell, Hofstetter et al., 1989), and some studies have documented a reduction in physical activity at especially high temperatures (Aoyagi & Shephard, 2009; Chan & Ryan, 2009; Humpel, Owen, Iverson, Leslie, & Bauman, 2004; Togo, Watanabe, Park, Shephard, & Aoyagi, 2005). Precipitation has also been shown to predict activity patterns, though the evidence base is smaller than for temperature (Belanger et al., 2009; Oliver, Schulter, Schofield, & Paterson, 2011). Overall, daily weather patterns appear to be important determinants of physical activity patterns. However, psychological factors may influence how people perceive weather as a barrier (Humpel et al., 2004), and it is therefore informative to examine the interplay between the psychological characteristics of the individual and the environmental context in which they live. One psychological factor that could interact with ecological context is time perspective. Time perspective is the extent to which people are cognizant of and value short versus long-term consequences of their actions (Hall & Fong, 2007; Strathman, Gleicher, Boninger, & Edwards, 1994; Zimbardo, Keough, & Boyd, 1997). Measures of time perspective can identify individuals who are more present oriented and more future oriented in their thinking about themselves and the world. Prior studies have shown that a more future oriented time perspective is associated with healthier behavior patterns including, but not limited to, physical activity (Hall & Fong, 2007; Hall, Fong, & Cheng, 2012; Henson, Carey, Carey, & Maisto, 2006; Keough, Zimbardo, & Boyd, 1999; Wills, Sandy, & Yaeger, 2001). In addition, at least one study of experimental design has shown that enhancement of future-oriented thinking can result in increases in physical activity (Hall & Fong, 2007). However, no studies to date have examined differences in ways that present versus future-oriented individuals respond to ecological conditions. Weather patterns are of particular interest because both temperature and precipitation levels can influence the ease of implementation of physical activity plans. When temperatures are low and when precipitation is heavy, opportunities for being active are reduced. Present- and future-oriented individuals may respond differentially to reduction in opportunities to be active, or conversely, to emerging opportunities to be active that appear when ecological conditions improve. Likewise, such reactivity to ecological conditions might be more amplified for older adults than for younger adults, given that functional mobility limitations may be more pronounced. As such, age-related variation is important to examine. The current study The objectives of this investigation were to examine: 1) the relationship between time perspective and accelerometer assessed physical activity, 2) the relationship between ecological conditions (ambient temperature and precipitation patterns specifically) and physical activity, and 3) the extent to which ecological conditions moderate the relationship between time perspective and physical activity. Finally, we aim to examine the extent to which any of these effects vary by age group. The latter is an important objective, given that weather conditions could be more influential barriers for older individuals, and this might be especially true for those who are more present-oriented in their time perspective. We anticipated based on prior research that more future-oriented participants might engage in more physical activity than their present-oriented counterparts. However, we hypothesized that the strength of this relationship would be conditional on ecological
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conditions. We specifically thought that, given prior studies linking future-orientation with stronger motivation (i.e., Hall et al., 2012), future oriented participants might be significantly more active than their present-oriented counterparts when ecological conditions are free of barriers that might impede translation of intention into behavior. This would suggest a stronger relationship between time perspective and activity when environmental conditions are supportive (i.e., warmer temperatures, and lower precipitation levels). Also, because prior studies have found such intentionenhancing effects of future orientation only in domain specific measures of time perspective, we thought that the same may hold true here. To examine these possibilities, we collected prospective data on time perspective, ecological conditions, and accelerometerassessed physical activity in an age-stratified community sample. Methods Participants Participants were 208 community-dwelling individuals from Saskatchewan, Canada; recruitment took place year round over a two-year interval between 2005 and 2007. Participants were individuals between the ages of 18 and 89 (Mage ¼ 45.21) who were recruited as part of a study on age, cognition, and health behavior patterns (Table 1; Hall (2012)). Participants were required to be English language speakers, have normal or corrected-to-normal vision, and be free of functional mobility limitations and major medical or psychiatric illness. Participants were recruited from the surrounding community via advertisements placed on community bulletin boards, presentations to community groups, seniors groups, and church groups. Of the initial sample of 208, all but one participant attended the follow-up laboratory session (99.52%). All participants provided informed consent prior to participation, and the study protocol was reviewed by and received clearance from the institutional review board. Procedures Participants attended an initial laboratory session wherein they completed self-report measures pertaining to demographics, time perspective and health behavior patterns. At this initial lab session, Table 1 Sample demographic characteristics.
Age (years) Gender Education
Household income
BMI
Male Female Some Public School Completed Public School Some High School Completed High School Some College Completed Bachelor’s Degree Completed Master’s Degree Completed Doctoral Degree 0e19,999 $20,000e39,999 $40,000e59,999 $60,000e79,999 $80,000e99,999 $100,000þ
