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Month: July 2023

Physical Activity During the Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Physical Activity During the Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dr. Kayla Nuss, KB Scientist, was part of a multi-institutional research team that published the results of a daily diary physical activity study in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health in July. The study, led by Ms. Kristen Moore from Colorado State University, reported on motivational profile as a predictor of physical activity among U.S. adults during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 468 adults participated in a 28-day smartphone-based daily diary study assessing physical activity. Nearly 80% of the participants were female and the average age of participants was 34.8 years. Daily diaries were used to examine associations between day-level physical activity behavior, physical activity-specific motivational profile, and days since the COVID-19 national emergency declaration during the early months of the pandemic, specifically April-June 2020.

According to the publication in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, a baseline survey assessed physical activity and motivation for physical activity using the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire. Multilevel linear regression models examined the main effects and interactions of motivational profile and time on daily physical activity minutes. Latent profile analysis identified four distinct motivational profiles for physical activity among this sample:

Profiles

  1. High amotivation (21% of participants)
  2. Low controlled motivation (12% of participants)
  3. High external regulation (10% of participants)
  4. Moderate autonomous motivation (57% of participants)

After controlling for baseline physical activity, there were significant interactions between profile and time on daily physical activity. Profile 2 showed greater decreases in daily physical activity minutes over time than profile 1. Profiles 3 and 4 did not indicate significant decreases in physical activity compared with profile 1. Details on the methods and results of this research can be found in the publication.

The authors summarize that Individuals with lower controlled or moderate autonomous motivation demonstrated the largest decreases in physical activity over time, whereas individuals with higher amotivation or external regulation demonstrated smaller decreases over time. In conclusion, the authors suggest that external motivation may have provided short-term protection against declines in physical activity observed during early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research was supported by the Assessment and Promotion of Physical Activity and Health Lab at Colorado State University and the Real-Time Eating Activity and Children’s Health Lab at University of Southern California. Authors in addition to Ms. Moore and Dr. Nuss include Dr. Shirlene Wang and Dr. Genevieve Dunton from the University of Southern California; Dr. Kaigang Li and Dr. Dan Graham from Colorado State University; Dr. Jimikaye Courtney from the University of North Carolina, and Dr. Bridgette Do from FitMinded, Inc.

Collaborator Spotlight:
Dr. Douglas Seals and Dr. Daniel Craighead

Collaborator Spotlight:
Dr. Douglas Seals and Dr. Daniel Craighead

Two accomplished integrative physiology scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder are launching a new research project in collaboration with Dr. Kayla Nuss and the Creative Team from Klein Buendel. The project will design and assess the feasibility of the using a smartphone app to help deliver a high-resistance inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) program for improving blood pressure and reducing cardiovascular disease risk in midlife and older adults.

Douglas Seals, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor of Integrative Physiology (Boulder Campus) and Medicine (Anschutz Medical Campus) at the University of Colorado. He is also the Director of the Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory. He earned his doctoral degree in Applied Exercise Physiology from the University of Wisconsin in 1981. In his 35+ years of academics and research, Dr. Seals has become an expert on lifestyle and/or pharmacological interventions to improve cardiovascular function. His areas of research interest include cardiovascular aging, such as changes in systolic blood pressure, large artery stiffness, and vascular endothelial function; biological and lifestyle factors that influence cardiovascular aging; the integrative (molecular to systemic) mechanisms that mediate cardiovascular aging and its modulation by biological and lifestyle factors; and interventions to improve adverse physiological changes with aging, including cardiovascular dysfunction, reductions in motor performance, and impairments in cognitive function. His research has been continuously funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health, particularly the National Institute on Aging, since 1986. Dr. Seals founded an NIH Clinical Translational Research Center at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1999 as a core facility for conducting biomedical research on human subjects. It was in this lab that Dr. Seals and Dr. Daniel Craighead (see below) established the efficacy of IMST for lowering blood pressure in a traditional clinical research setting. In 2004, Dr. Seals received a 10-year MERIT Award from the National Institute on Aging to support his research on cardiovascular aging. In 2008, he was named a Professor of Distinction in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. In 2013, he was named an Edward F. Adolph Distinguished Lecturer by the American Physiological Society for his work in the physiology of aging.

Daniel Craighead, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder. He earned his doctoral degree in Kinesiology from Penn State University in 2017, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2020. Dr. Craighead is a specialist in the study of IMST for lowering blood pressure. Dr. Craighead conducted the initial R21-supported clinical trial on IMST, upon which the new research project with Klein Buendel is based. The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I study is supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and will design and assess the feasibility of a smartphone app for delivering an IMST program and improving blood pressure in midlife and older adults. The program will provide instruction and promote adherence to the IMST intervention. Ultimately, the app will provide for widespread dissemination and adoption of an innovative tool to easily lower blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Dr. Craighead also has been the Principal Investigator on a study assessing the efficacy of nicotinamide riboside, a dietary supplement, for lowering blood pressure and improving vascular function in older adults, among other research projects.

Social Media IN-SERVICE TRAINING for Responsible Alcohol Serving

Social Media IN-SERVICE TRAINING for Responsible Alcohol Serving

Among prevention strategies for driving while intoxicated (DWI), responsible beverage service (RBS) training has been effective in some cases. A research team from Klein Buendel and the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) reported on the results of a pilot project to create an in-service professional development social media component for the online evidence-based RBS training, WayToServe®, at the 46th Annual Research Society on Alcohol Scientific Meeting held in Bellevue, Washington on June 24-28, 2023.

In-service support beyond initial RBS training may counter management disinterest or resistance to RBS. A prototype of the WayToServe Plus in-service professional development social media component was produced by the authors. It contained 51 social media posts on advanced RBS skills training (such as home delivery), experienced servers supporting new servers (such as tips and tricks), professionalism (such as handling disruptive customer), and basic management procedures (such as house policies). Messages were intended to (a) increase confidence and motivation to implement RBS methods, (b) create a professional community of servers supporting RBS actions, and (c) prevent degradation of RBS skills and motivation. Thirty-six (36) posts contained text, graphics, and/or links, 14 had TikTok-style videos, and one presented an interactive learning activity from the WayToServe training.

One hundred eleven (111) alcohol servers who completed WayToServe training in New Mexico or Washington State participated in a 4-week pilot test. Participants were enrolled in either a Facebook private group with the WayToServe Plus feed and online posttest survey (n=60 servers) or in a control group with the posttest survey only (n=51 servers). WayToServe Plus posts were posted once a day, Monday to Friday. All servers in the WayToServe Plus group (100%) followed the feed for all 4 weeks; 83.3% viewed a post; and 46.7% reacted/commented on a post. WayToServe Plus servers expressed increased self-efficacy for RBS practices and response efficacy for RBS reducing DWI compared to control servers. Servers felt WayToServe Plus was appropriate and usable, and 77.9% were likely to use it in the future.

In-service professional development delivered over social media is feasible with alcohol servers and has the potential to maintain and support RBS techniques during intervals between state-approved RBS training.

This research was supported by a grant to Klein Buendel from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA029364; W. Gill Woodall and David Buller, Multiple Principal Investigators). Additional authors on the conference poster include Dr. Robert Saltz from the PIRE Prevention Research Center in Berkley, California, and Ms. Lila Martinez from Klein Buendel.