Testing and Optimizing Guided Thinking Tasks to Promote Physical Activity: Protocol for a Randomized Factorial Trial

Background Insufficient physical activity is associated with various health risks; however, most current physical activity interventions have critical barriers to scalability. Delivering interventions via technology and identifying active and inert components in early-phase development are ways to build more efficient and scalable interventions. We developed a novel intervention to promote physical activity that targets 3 brief guided thinking tasks, separately and in combination, using brief audio recordings: (1) episodic future thinking (EFT), (2) positive affective imagery (PAI), and (3) planning. Objective The aim of this GeT (Guided Thinking) Active study is to optimize a scalable guided thinking intervention to promote physical activity using principles of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST). Mechanism-focused analyses will inform which components are optimal candidates for inclusion in an intervention package and which need refinement. Methods We will enroll 192 participants randomized to receive intervention components delivered via an audio recording that they will listen to prior to weekly in-lab physical activity sessions. Participants in the high dose conditions will also be instructed to listen to the audio recording 4 additional days each week. We will evaluate effects of the components on physical activity over 6 weeks in a 2 (EFT vs recent thinking) × 2 (PAI vs neutral imagery) × 2 (planning vs no planning) × 2 (dose: 5×/week vs 1×/week) full factorial randomized trial. Results The National Cancer Institute funded this study (R21CA260360) on May 13, 2021. Participant recruitment began in February 2022. Data analysis will begin after the completion of data collection. Conclusions The GeT Active study will result in a scalable, audio-recorded intervention that will accelerate progress toward the full development of guided thinking interventions to promote physical activity. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05235360; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05235360 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/40908