A multilevel examination of exercise intention and behavior during pregnancy

Heather Hausenblas, Danielle Symons Downs, Peter Giacobbi, Danny Tuccitto, Brian Cook

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Research examining exercising in pregnancy is limited by non-theoretical and cross-sectional assessments that fail to capture the specific physical and psychological demands of the pregnancy trimesters. Drawing on a population in Gainesville, Florida, USA we prospectively examined, within a multilevel design, 61 pregnant women's first and second trimester exercise intention and behavior, and the potential moderating effect of past exercise behavior using the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Significant cross-sectional associations were found with exercise intention, although the only significant longitudinal effect was the relation between first trimester intention and second trimester changes in exercise behavior. Implications of our findings for study design and exercise intervention development during pregnancy are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2555-2561
Number of pages7
JournalSocial Science and Medicine
Volume66
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2008

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Health(social science)
  • History and Philosophy of Science

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