Readiness for Physical Activity among Persons at Risk for Diabetes

Background: An estimated 20.8 million Americans have diabetes, and pre-diabetes is increasing and occurs among about 30.5% of the population. Modest improvements in physical activity and diet can delay or prevent diabetes, but behavior change is difficult. Purpose: This cross-sectional study examined the relationships between Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs (behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs) and stage of readiness for physical activity change for people with diabetes risk because physical activity is one of the most recognized behaviors for preventing type 2 diabetes. Method: A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect TPB and stage of readiness data from Midwestern adults at risk for diabetes. A 74-item questionnaire, developed using Ajzen's (2005) procedures was mailed to 134 adults at risk for diabetes. Of those mailed, 106 (78.4%) were returned and usable. Participants were mostly female (78.3%), Caucasian (76.4%), married (61.9%), between 21 – 61 years old, and M BMI (kg/m2) was 32.1 (SD = 8.6). Psychometric analyses provided evidence of construct validity and reliability of the three scales. Internal consistency was sufficient (á = .76-.95), and 2-month test-retest evaluations indicated scale stability (r = .79-.91). Results: Results from a discriminant function analysis showed that normative beliefs and control beliefs were the best discriminator variables of stage of readiness for physical activity. Analyses of variances revealed significant differences in normative belief and control belief means between contemplation and action stages. Conclusions: Identifying beliefs of persons at each stage may help inform interventionists as we encourage people to move from one stage to the next, but future research needs to be conducted to confirm this conclusion.