Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Social Identity Informed Virtual Running Group Program

University of British Columbia

Status: Completed

Conditions: Identity, Social; Well-being; Physical Activity

Treatments: Behavioral: Virtual running group program; Behavioral: Attention Control: Fitness Application Strava

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04857918

H20-03151

Details and patient eligibility

About

The STRIDE Pilot Trial is a randomized controlled pilot trial that will utilize social identity informed virtual running groups to support underactive undergraduate students' well-being and exercise behaviour. The main outcomes of this study are to determine whether the intervention is feasible and acceptable to conduct as a full-scale efficacy trial. Secondary outcomes of interest include changes in participants' exercise identity, exercise behaviour, perceived social support, and well-being. Participants' perceived social identification with their running group will also be assessed at the end of the study.

Enrollment: 73 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• currently residing in Canada
• age 18+
• enrolled in undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia
• underactive (i.e., currently participating in less than the Canadian physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of physical activity per week)
• not experience any health contraindication which might prevent that person from participating in moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise.
• able to speak and read English
• own a smart phone
• have home access to the internet and a device with camera functionality

Exclusion criteria

• If a potential participant has a medical contraindication (flagged through the PAR-Q+ and ePARmedX) and have NOT been cleared to participate in physical activity by their physician they are then ineligible to participate in the study
• Participants are asked to record their running and walking behaviour on the fitness application Strava, and participate in Zoom coffee chats with their running group. If an individual is unwilling to download the Strava application and/or do not want to use Zoom they will be excluded from the study.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

73 participants in 2 patient groups

Social identity informed virtual running group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will join running groups of six people (males and females) for eight weeks. Each running group will be given the group goal/challenge to collectively run/brisk walk the distance across the province of British Columbia (940 km) over the course of the eight week intervention (Estabrooks et al., 2008), and encouraged to complete 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week. Participants can record other moderate-to-vigorous exercise to contribute to the group goal. Running groups will be created on the fitness application Strava, and participants will record/post their runs on the Strava app so that members of their running group can provide 'kudos' and words of encouragement. Running groups will have a weekly a coffee chat (via Zoom) to socialize and discuss their experiences running/exercising and progress and challenges associated with meeting the group goal. Participants will also be provided running tip videos, phone armbands, and t-shirts with the study logo.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Virtual running group program

Attention control group

Active Comparator group

Description:

This group of participants will act as an attention control condition. This group will be asked to download the fitness application Strava to their smartphone, and track all of their runs and walks on Strava. Similar to the intervention group, participants will be provided with phone armbands to carry their phone during a run or walk so they can record the run or walk on Strava, and will be asked to try participating in 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Attention Control: Fitness Application Strava