The Moderating Effect of Socioeconomic Status and Walkability on the Efficacy of Physical Activity Interventions

Authors

Analisa VavosoFollow
Vincent Berardi, Chapman UniversityFollow
Marc A. Adams, Arizona State University

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 5-1-2024

Faculty Advisor(s)

Dr. Vincent Berardi

Abstract

To enable physical activity (PA) interventions to better tailor procedures to participant characteristics, we investigated the role of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and walkability on the differential effectiveness of adaptive versus static activity goals (AG vs. SG) and immediate versus delayed (IR vs. DR) reinforcement in a PA trial.

Data was collected as a part of the WalkIT Arizona study, where healthy, inactive adults (n = 512) were instructed to wear an accelerometer daily for one year and were provided with daily goals for moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). The intersection of goal types (adaptive and static) as well as reinforcement types (immediate and delayed) created four groups. Participants were block-randomized into one of four groups according to high/low neighborhood walkability and high/low neighborhood income. A linear regression model was fit to the data to predict mean daily MVPA based on the interaction of intervention condition and neighborhood walkability/income quadrant.

Each neighborhood walkability/SES quadrant level and intervention group interaction was statistically significant. In high walkability/high SES and low walkability/high SES groups, daily MVPA was highest for the AG/IR intervention and lowest for the SG/DR intervention (β = 12.18, p < .001; β = 9.11, p < .001, respectively). In the low walkability/low SES group, MVPA was also lowest for the SG/DR intervention but was highest for the SG/IR intervention. (β= 9.12, p < .001). Results were qualitatively different in the high walkability/low SES group, where the most MVPA was seen for the SG/DR intervention, while the least was observed for AG/DR (β = 5.66 , p < .001).

The results show that in a low-income/high-walkability environment, static goals and delayed reinforcement were most effective, which is the opposite of what was seen in other neighborhoods. These findings can be used to customize future physical activity interventions so that intervention strategies are most appropriate for participants’ demographic/environmental settings.

Comments

Presented at the Spring 2024 Student Scholar Symposium at Chapman University.

Recommended Citation

Vavoso, Analisa; Berardi, Vincent; and Adams, Marc A., "The Moderating Effect of Socioeconomic Status and Walkability on the Efficacy of Physical Activity Interventions" (2024). Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters. 640.
https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cusrd_abstracts/640