Evolution of physical activity habits after a context change: The case of COVID-19 lockdown

Silvio Maltagliati¹, Amanda Rebar², Layan Fessler¹, Cyril Forestier³, Philippe Sarrazin¹, Aïna Chalabaev¹, David Sander^{4

5}, Hasmini Sivaramakrishnan⁶, Dan Orsholits⁷, Matthieu P Boisgontier^{8

9}, Nikos Ntoumanis^{6

10}, Benjamin Gardner¹¹, Boris Cheval^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SENS, Grenoble, France.
² Physical Activity Research Group, School of Human, Health and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.
³ Laboratoire Motricité, Interactions, Performance, MIP - EA4334, Le Mans Université, France.
⁴ Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression (E3Lab), Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Physical Activity and Well-Being Research Group, School of Psychology, Curtin University, Curtain, Australia.
⁷ Swiss NCCR 'LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives', University of Geneva, Switzerland.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), Kings College London, UK.

PMID: 33822454
PMCID: PMC8250330
DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12524

Observational Study

Evolution of physical activity habits after a context change: The case of COVID-19 lockdown

Silvio Maltagliati et al. Br J Health Psychol. 2021 Nov.

. 2021 Nov;26(4):1135-1154.

doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12524. Epub 2021 Apr 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SENS, Grenoble, France.
² Physical Activity Research Group, School of Human, Health and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.
³ Laboratoire Motricité, Interactions, Performance, MIP - EA4334, Le Mans Université, France.
⁴ Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Laboratory for the Study of Emotion Elicitation and Expression (E3Lab), Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ Physical Activity and Well-Being Research Group, School of Psychology, Curtin University, Curtain, Australia.
⁷ Swiss NCCR 'LIVES - Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives', University of Geneva, Switzerland.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
⁹ Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), Kings College London, UK.

PMID: 33822454
PMCID: PMC8250330
DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12524

Abstract

Objective: Habits, defined as well-learned associations between cues and behaviours, are essential for health-related behaviours, including physical activity (PA). Despite the sensitivity of habits to context changes, little remains known about the influence of a context change on the interplay between PA habits and behaviours. We investigated the evolution of PA habits amidst the spring COVID-19 lockdown, a major context change. Moreover, we examined the association of PA behaviours and autonomous motivation with this evolution.

Design: Three-wave observational longitudinal design.

Methods: PA habits, behaviours, and autonomous motivation were collected through online surveys in 283 French and Swiss participants. Variables were self-reported with reference to three time-points: before-, mid-, and end-lockdown.

Results: Mixed effect modelling revealed a decrease in PA habits from before- to mid-lockdown, especially among individuals with strong before-lockdown habits. Path analysis showed that before-lockdown PA habits were not associated with mid-lockdown PA behaviours (β = -.02, p = .837), while mid-lockdown PA habits were positively related to end-lockdown PA behaviours (β = .23, p = .021). Autonomous motivation was directly associated with PA habits (ps < .001) and withto before- and mid-lockdown PA behaviours (ps < .001) (but not with end-lockdown PA behaviours) and did not moderate the relations between PA behaviours and habits (ps > .072).

Conclusion: PA habits were altered, and their influence on PA behaviours was impeded during the COVID-19 lockdown. Engagement in PA behaviours and autonomous motivation helped in counteracting PA habits disruption.

Keywords: COVID-19; autonomous motivation; context change; habits; physical activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Illustration of restrictive measures during the lockdown in France and Switzerland and of the three‐wave longitudinal design of the study.

**Figure 2**
Path diagrams illustrating the hypothetical (a) and evidenced associations (b) of physical activity (PA) behaviours and autonomous motivation for PA with PA habits. *Note*. Significant and non‐significant associations are represented with solid and dashed lines, respectively. Standardized beta coefficients (β) and R‐squared (R ²) are reported. ***p < .001; **p < .01; *p < .05; ^{^} p < .10. PA = physical activity. The interactive terms between PA behaviours and autonomous motivation are not represented in Figure 3B as these variables were not included in the final model.

**Figure 3**
Evolution of PA habits across time, as a function of before‐lockdown PA habits. *Note*. Evolution of PA habits was plotted as a function of the quadratic effect of time. PA: Physical activity; Time 0: before‐lockdown; Time 1: mid‐lockdown; Time 2: end‐lockdown.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Bates, D. , Mächler, M. , Bolker, B. , & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed‐effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 1–48. 10.18637/jss.v067.i01 - DOI
1. Boisgontier, M. P. , & Cheval, B. (2016). The anova to mixed model transition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 68, 1004–1005. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.05.034 - DOI - PubMed
1. Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. Choice Reviews Online, 44(05), 44‐2769. 10.5860/CHOICE.44-2769 - DOI
1. Brunet, J. , Gunnell, K. E. , Gaudreau, P. , & Sabiston, C. M. (2015). An integrative analytical framework for understanding the effects of autonomous and controlled motivation. Personality and Individual Differences, 84, 2–15. 10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.034 - DOI
1. Cheval, B. , Radel, R. , Neva, J. L. , Boyd, L. A. , Swinnen, S. P. , Sander, D. , & Boisgontier, M. P. (2018). Behavioral and neural evidence of the rewarding value of exercise behaviors: A systematic review. Sports Medicine, 48, 1389–1404. 10.1007/s40279-018-0898-0 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Actions

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Evolution of physical activity habits after a context change: The case of COVID-19 lockdown

Affiliations

Evolution of physical activity habits after a context change: The case of COVID-19 lockdown

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms