Intention and automaticity toward physical and sedentary screen-based leisure activities in adolescents: A profile perspective

Abstract

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) † The first two authors equally contributed to the article.and sedentary behavior (SB) are increasingly considered independent health behaviors. Additionally, current research suggests that both controlled and automatic determinants account for their adoption. The purpose of this article was to identify intention–automaticity profiles toward PA and screen-based SB and to examine how those profiles are associated with different behavioral patterns. Method: Two cross-sectional studies based on self-report questionnaires were conducted with French high school students (Study 1: n = 198; Study 2: n = 185). Results: In all, 4 distinct motivational profiles appeared. The first 3 clusters emerged in both studies: “PA” (high levels of automaticity and intention for PA, low levels of automaticity and intention for screen-based SB); “screen” (high levels of automaticity and intention for screen-based SB, low levels of automaticity and intention for PA), and “mixed” (high levels of all variables), whereas the fourth cluster was observed only in Study 2: “high control” (below-mean levels of automaticity, high levels of intention toward both PA and screen-based SB). Adolescents with a screen profile displayed the least healthy behavioral pattern, whereas those in the PA profile demonstrated the most favorable behaviors. Conclusion: Future research is needed to extend these results to other populations using complementary assessment methods of automatic psychological processes and PA and SB behaviors. Keywords: Active lifestyle, Cluster analysis, Control, Dual process, Exercise, Habit motivation, Physical activity