German Clinical Trials Register

Acronym/abbreviation of the study

HASCI-1plus1

URL of the study

https://www.ewi-psy.fu-berlin.de/einrichtungen/arbeitsbereiche/gesund/forschung/HASCI-Studie/index.html

Brief summary in lay language

Those who walk, cycle, or use public transport (instead of the car) to get to work are improving their daily levels of physical activity and reduce their ecological footprint. Active commuting has the potential to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. How people get to work is often a highly automated behavior and something that people do over a long period of time. Hence, it is difficult to change and make long-term effective changes towards a more active lifestyle. Support from friends, family or colleagues could be particularly helpful in achieving new goals, but little research has been done in the area of active commuting. HASCI-1plus1 examines two people who know each other (e.g., friends, work colleagues) and who both want to commute more actively over a longer period of time. This online study examines how active commuting behavior can be promoted, how support processes between two people look like, how support processes can be increased, and which correlates play a role for these processes. During the intervention, participants are asked to commute actively and therein work together with their respective study partner (“buddy”) for the following weeks. A booster intervention follows about 2 weeks after the intervention. Participants answer questionnaires several times a day (before commuting to work, after commuting to work, end of the day) across 12 weeks on weekdays (Monday to Friday) and wear an accelerometer. Experiences during the study are reflected in a final interview.

Brief summary in scientific language

Active commuting, that is, walking, cycling or using public transport to get to work (instead of a car), has the potential to contribute to health promotion (Raser et al., 2018; Patterson et al., 2020) and reduce people’s ecological footprint (Figueiredo et al., 2021; Johansson et al., 2017; Patz et al., 2016). Interventions for self-regulation in physical activity (e.g., action planning; Schwarzer, 2008) contribute to motivation (Knittle et al., 2018) and behavior change (Murray et al., 2017). The question of sustainability of behavioral interventions, i.e., how a short-term change in behavior can also be maintained in the long term, should be further investigated. In addition to individual factors the inclusion of a supporting person could be helpful for behavior change, since two people (so-called dyads) have more resources than an individual (Fitzsimmons et al., 2015). To date, dyadic interventions show heterogeneous evidence regarding their effectiveness in increasing physical activity (Carr et al., 2019). By means of a dyadic behavior-related intervention, social exchange processes could be specifically promoted in order to strengthen the behavior change of both participants in the short and long term. Apart from individual techniques of behavior change (e.g., action planning), additional elements from motivational interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2013) are used in the HASCI-1plus1 intervention to promote helpful support. This one-arm online intervention study aims to support inactive commuters and their study partners (so-called "buddies") in implementing and maintaining a new, more active commuting behavior and to promote mutual support processes in a dyadic intervention. Psychosocial and affective determinants will be examined using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA; Shiffman et al., 2008) and an observational N-of-1 study design (McDonald et. al, 2017). The sample will consist of at least nine dyads (i.e., 18 people) both of whom want to initiate active forms of commuting. With self-report surveys via smartphone app and objective data from an accelerometer assessed on weekdays (Monday to Friday), the participants are examined across a period of 12 weeks. The smartphone app's three daily EMA surveys occur (1) before commuting to work, (2) after commuting to work, and (3) at the end of the day. The intervention takes place online via video call on the 16th, 17th, or 18th day of the observation phase (randomized start day in line with a multiple baseline design). Interviewer-supported goal setting and planning of the new behavior (e.g., cycling to work) is supplemented by tips on helpful communication strategies and the initiation of dyadic support processes, which are jointly determined by the dyad. A booster intervention with the dyad takes place four weeks after study start. A final interview with each participant will take place 12 weeks after study start.