ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2025
Improving Affective Associations With Physical Activity via a Message-Based mHealth Intervention (WalkToJoy): Proof-of-Concept Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effectiveness of nudge-based physical activity interventions in frail older adults: a systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Pooled it
- Active Measuring in Reinforcement Learning With Delayed Negative Effects.Proceedings of machine learning research · 2026Article
- Patterns and Predictors of Self-Regulatory Fatigue Among Intensive Care Unit Nurses: A Person-Centered Latent Profile Analysis.Journal of nursing management · 2026Article
- Improving Affective Associations With Physical Activity via a Message-Based mHealth Intervention (WalkToJoy): Proof-of-Concept Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
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6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTraditional mobile health interventions for physical activity (PA) primarily rely on reflective self-regulatory processes, often neglecting the role of affective associations in sustaining long-term engagement. The WalkToJoy intervention addresses this gap by applying the affective-reflective theory to enhance intrinsic motivation for PA among adults aged ≥40 years through affective message framing, evaluative conditioning, and belief updating.
objectiveThis proof-of-concept study evaluated the feasibility of the message-based WalkToJoy intervention package and examined the impact of its 3 components-walking suggestion prompts, salience messages, and planning prompts-on affective and behavioral outcomes related to walking.
methodsWe conducted a fully remote, 6-week full factorial experiment with an embedded microrandomized trial (MRT) involving 49 adults aged ≥40 years. Statistical analyses, including paired t tests and generalized estimating equations, assessed pretest-posttest changes and the effects of smile-inducing walking suggestion prompts with short animated images (GIF images), salience messages, and planning prompts on weekly affective measures and daily step counts. In addition, MRT analyses evaluated the proximal effects of these components. Poststudy interviews were thematically analyzed to contextualize participants' experiences and engagement with the intervention.
resultsSignificant pretest-posttest improvements were observed across affective outcomes on a 7-point Likert scale-affective attitudes improved by 0.547 points (P<.001), affective valuations improved by 0.718 points (P<.001), affective reflection improved by 0.692 points (P<.001), and anticipated affect improved by 0.692 points (P<.001). While the average daily steps showed a nonsignificant pretest-posttest increase of 80 steps (P=.79), further analysis revealed an increase of 506 steps (P=.07) when comparing baseline to the average of weeks 4 to 6. Among the intervention components, GIF prompts significantly increased anticipated affect by 0.345 points (P=.046) and average daily step count by 1834 steps (P=.05) compared to identical text-only prompts. However, MRT analysis found no significant increase in 4-hour step counts following the walking suggestion prompts (P=.55), which was explained by qualitative findings suggesting that participants interpreted messages as flexible day-long reminders rather than immediate calls to action. Salience and planning prompts did not yield substantial quantitative effects but were positively received by participants for promoting mindfulness and personalized engagement.
conclusionsThe WalkToJoy intervention is a feasible and promising approach for improving affective associations with walking. Walking suggestion prompts were particularly effective in boosting engagement and mitigating message fatigue, highlighting the potential of affect-driven interventions to enhance PA motivation and adherence.
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