Grant Number:	1R01CA309398-01 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Williams, David
Organization:	Brown University
Project Title:	Testing a Scalable, Remote-Delivered, Positive-Psychology-Based Physical Activity Promotion Intervention for the General Population of Low-Active Adults: an Rct
Fiscal Year:	2026

Project Summary. Engaging in regular physical activity (PA) is an important cancer prevention behavior; however, only 54% of U.S. adults meet national guidelines of expending > 1000 kcals/week through PA,1 and as few as 10% meet guidelines when objective assessments of PA are used.2 Thus, there is a need to improve adherence to PA programs using innovative approaches. Positive psychology is a burgeoning area of research that may provide valuable and innovative directions for improving on PA promotion interventions.3 Most positive psychology interventions (PPIs) can be readily implemented with limited additional training and treatment resources and have the potential to appeal to a broad range of individuals given their emphasis on the near-ubiquitous human goal of enhancing personal happiness. Previous PPIs which included PA either as an outcome measure or an intervention target4-21 suggest PPIs may be useful for PA promotion. However, most have been conducted in specific clinical populations, lacked adequate statistical power, lacked gold- standard accelerometry assessment, and have not been tested in a more scalable, group-based format. Moreover, none of the prior interventions included PPPI content specifically targeting PA. Using the ORBIT model22 for developing behavioral interventions, our research team developed and tested the feasibility of a 6- week Positive Psychology for Physical Activity (PPPA) intervention for increasing PA among adults (R21CA137211).23 Consistent with the ORBIT model,22 we propose to conduct an RCT comparing the effects of an optimized PPPA intervention versus a Standard PA promotion intervention (SPA) on PA behavior among the general population of low-active adults (N=280). Consistent with phase 3 of the ORBIT model,22 we will leverage our intervention development and feasibility testing of PPPA to test its efficacy in a fully powered RCT. Specifically, the PPPA intervention will employ behavioral change techniques (BCTs) and target associated mechanisms of action (MoAs) based on positive psychology (i.e., positive affect, PA enjoyment, value-congruent self-regulation, optimism, resilience, and social embeddedness) and social cognitive theory (SCT; i.e., goal-setting, self-monitoring, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and social support).24 PPPA will be compared to the SPA intervention, which includes the same SCT-based BCTs and MoAs as the PPPA intervention, plus additional health education content, such that the PPPA and SPA interventions will have the same non-specific SCT-based content as well as equal frequency of staff contact. The primary outcome is total volume of PA (frequency x duration x intensity) as measured by accelerometry at months 3 (post-treatment), 6, 9, and 12. The secondary outcome is self-reported min/week of PA as measured by the 7-day Physical Activity Recall.25 We hypothesize that participants in PPPA, relative to SPA, will engage in more PA as measured by accelerometry and self-report. Additionally, we will examine positive psychology MoAs as putative mediators of treatment effects on increased PA, consistent with our conceptual model.





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