Table 1 Intervention components included in each group

National physical activity guideline

Instruction on how to perform a behaviour

X

X

X

X

Examples of advantages and disadvantages of increasing PA

Pros and cons; Information about health consequences; Information about emotional consequences

X

X

X

Examples of barriers to PA

Barrier identification

X

X

X

Exercise 1: Describe and prioritize advantages and disadvantages of current PA and of increasing PA

Pros and cons

Decisional balance [39]

X

X

Exercise 2: (A) Indicate the importance of several values, including ‘health’; (B) indicate the time, effort and energy spent on those values; (C) compare ‘importance of health’ with ‘time, effort and energy spent on health’; (D) indicate extent to which several values affect PA

Valued self-identity; Discrepancy between current behaviour and goal

Disconnected Values Model [9]; Cognitive dissonance theory [13]

X

X

Examples of strategies to increase PA

Instruction on how to perform a behaviour

X

Exercise 3: Create personal PA action plan

Action planning; Goal setting

Action planning [40]

X^a

Exercise 4: Indicate personal barriers

Barrier identification

X

X

Exercise 5: Make plans to cope with personal barriers (implementation intentions)

Problem solving

Implementation intentions; coping planning [11]

X^a